Fan Curses Wizards’ Isaiah Thomas Over Wendy’s Free Frosty, Thomas Confronts Him in the Stands

After missing his first free throw and making the second, a Philadelphia 76ers fan verbally harassed Washington Wizards‘ guard Isaiah Thomas, screaming, “[explitive] you, [explitive]!” The fan repeated himself three times with both middle fingers in the air directed at Thomas.

When playing in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the 76ers offer a fan promotion for a free fast food treat. If a player on the opposing team misses two consecutive free throws in the second half of the game, every fan in attendance receives a coupon for a free Wendy’s frosty.

Thomas took offense to the fan’s gesture and entered the stands to confront him. He calmly told the fan to not behave in a disrespectful manner toward him, but the league ejected Thomas for entering the stands, as per the rules.

After the game, Thomas spoke on the situation.

“I’m never going to be disrespected in any way,” he said. “My dad taught me at a young age, don’t ever let anybody call you out on your name, and it doesn’t matter where I am, that’s not going to happen. When I missed the first free throw and made the second, I’m running back and a fan has both his middle fingers up. He said, ‘[explitive] you, [explitive]’ three times.’ So, then the timeout goes, and I go in the stands to confront him. I say, ‘Don’t be disrespectful, I’m a man before anything, and be a fan.’ And, his response was, ‘I’m sorry, I just wanted a frosty.’ Because if you miss two free throws, I guess the fans get a frosty. So, that’s what happened, and I walked back. I told my security who it was, so he can get kicked out of the game because, in no way, shape, or form should that be allowed at all. I’ve been in the league for a while. Fans are going to say whatever they want, but don’t ever call me out on my name because I would never do that to anyone else … That’s not okay at all. So, I just went to go tell him that in no disrespectful way, as calm as I am now, and those are the three things I said, and that was his response.”

Wizards’ head coach Scott Brooks also spoke on the situation.

“You don’t know what happened, but there’s no reason to go into the stands,” Brooks said. “Maybe there’s one, but I’ll keep that between me and myself … But, no, I don’t know what happened.”

Thomas has yet to be suspended for the incident, but his calm demeanor might save him from future punishment.