The full story behind that video of Russell Westbrook telling a Jazz fan he’d ‘f*ck you up’

Russell Westbrook got into it, again, with a pair of Jazz fans in the middle of Oklahoma City’s nine-point win over Utah on Monday. It’s the second time in as many years that Westbrook has had a run-in with fans in Utah, following a set of altercations with Jazz fans during a playoff game last season.

But this time was different. This time, the blowup had a racial undertone, with conflicting stories about what was said from each side. Now, the fan has been permanently banned from all events at Utah’s Vivint Smart Home Arena, and Westbrook has support from players across the league, including those on the Jazz roster.

Let’s investigate.

Video surfaces

During Monday’s game, video of Westbrook threatening to wash some Jazz fans surfaces on Twitter.

“I’ll f*ck you up,” the video catches Westbrook saying to what appears to be a pair of fans. “You and your wife.”

Pay close attention to the Thunder player who is closest to the action. That’s Patrick Patterson on OKC’s bench. This will be important later.

Warning cards

Twenty-three minutes after the video surfaced, Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News reported Utah’s staff issued five fans “warning cards” because their actions directed toward players were in violation of the NBA’s Fan Code of Conduct, which requires that guests “enjoy the basketball experience free from disruptive behavior, including foul or abusive language or obscene gestures.”

These were the fans who Westbrook appeared to be addressing.

Westbrook’s side

Westbrook didn’t take any questions after the game. Instead, he addressed his altercation with the pair of Jazz fans. He said one told him to “get on your knees like you’re used to,” then said his wife repeated the same statement.

“The realization of it is a young man and his wife in the stands told me to get down on your knees like you’re used to. And for me that’s just completely disrespectful to me,” he says. “I think it’s racial. I think it’s just inappropriate in a sense of there’s no protection for the players. I think there are a lot of great fans around the world that like to come to the game and enjoy the game. Then there are people who come to the game to say mean, disrespectful things about me, my family.

“For many years, I’ve done all the right things. I’ve never done anything to hurt or harm anybody. I’ve never been in any trouble, never fought a fan. Been in the league 11 years, clean slate, humble. I’ll take all the criticism from everybody. I’ve been doing the same thing for years. But for me, disrespect will not be taken.

“Especially here in Utah. Every time I come here, it’s a lot of disrespectful things that’s said.”

Westbrook also addressed his comment that he would “f*ck up” the fan’s wife.

“As for beating up his wife, I’ve never put my hands on a women, never will, never been in any domestic violence, never have before,” he says. “But once he said the comment, his wife repeated it, the same thing to me, as well. That’s kind of how that started. I know you guys only saw the end of the video, but the start is what’s important and way more disrespectful than what you guys heard.”

The fan’s side of the story

After the game, Shane Keisel, the fan in question, spoke to Utah TV station KSL5 about his exchange with Westbrook. He says he told Westbrook to “sit down and ice your knees, bro.” Kiesel also swears he never said a curse word to Westbrook.

“It was when Joe (Ingles) had come by and poked Paul George in the eye. And then Joe goes over and apologizes immediately, and then Russ is just f-bombing and carrying on and acting a fool down here, and everybody’s getting on him,” Keisel says. “Then he had, I guess, heat, I thought it was ice. So I just told him, ‘just sit down and ice your knees, bro.’ And he turned to me and is like, ‘That’s heat. That’s heat.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, you’re gonna need it.’ And then it turned into not safe for the work.”

Patterson speaks

Patrick Patterson had a front-row seat to the action, and he was disgusted by what he saw. He says here that the fan told Westbrook to “get down on your knees like you’re used to,” which is a serious left turn from “sit down and ice your knees, bro.” He also hints that comment wasn’t all that was said.

Raymond Felton also backs Westbrook’s account

Felton, one of Westbrook’s teammates also sitting on the bench, corroborated his side of the story.

“That was absurd, what they said to Russ,” Felton said. “That’s not fair, that’s not right. That’s not the first time it happened. It happened in Portland.”

Keisel’s profile is found

Twitter detectives found Keisel’s profile and several damning tweets that shed light on his beliefs outside his Jazz fandom. Keisel eventually deleted these tweets, and later deleted his entire Twitter profile.

It turns out Keisel has tweeted about Westbrook in the past. Those tweets include, “Russell Westbrook is a classless piece of shit. Somebody needs to kick his ass. #tool #poorloser” and “Russell Westbrook needs to go back where he came from!! #MAGA.”

The Jazz are looking into this

Utah is investigating everything and is reportedly taking the matter seriously.

They should be

Remember: Westbrook had not one, but two altercations with Jazz fans during last season’s playoff series. To jog your memory, one was at halftime of Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs.

The other altercation was at the end of OKC’s disappointing loss.

After the game, Westbrook criticized Jazz fans and the level of disrespect in their trash talk.

“I don’t confront fans, fans confront me,” Westbrook said during his postgame press conference. “Here in Utah, a lot of disrespectful, vulgar things are said to the players here with these fans, man. It’s truly disrespectful. Talk about your families, about your kids. It’s just disrespect to the game, and I think it’s something that needs to be brought up.”

It’s not just Utah

Westbrook literally had to shove a Nuggets fan away after that fan ran onto the court and yelled in his face.

There was also an instance when a young Nuggets fan with court side seats poked Westbrook on the elbow, which prompted Westbrook to approach the fan and his father to explain why that wasn’t OK.

Now players are coming together to support

Utah’s own Donovan Mitchell issued a statement that read: “I am personally hurt by the incident at the game on March 11th. As a black man living in a community that I love, playing on a team that gives me the opportunity of my dreams, this incident hits close to home.” Mitchell also said he joins in on players calling to take a stand against hate speech and racist acts, and he wants to work with all parties to make a better NBA environment.

Jazz forward Thabo Sefolosha also voiced his support for Westbrook with a statement he issued, as well: “I stand 100 percent with Russell Westbrook on what happened in yesterday’s game. I love our fans but there are limits that can not be crossed,” he wrote.

Rudy Gobert also came to Westbrook’s defense: “We have his back,” Gobert said. “As much as I like to compete against Russ — and there’s always a little trash talk between me and him — as a human being, I feel for him and I understand his reaction.”

National Basketball Players Association president Michele Roberts also issued a statement to The Undefeated’s Marc Spears: “We should ALL insist that a zero tolerance policy needs to [be] implemented at arenas in the face of misconduct by fans. Players don’t have the luxury of being able to unilaterally ban unruly fans ala James Dolan. The arenas, therefore, have to do a better job of insulating our players.”

UPDATE: The Jazz have banned Keisel from all events at Vivint Smart Home Arena

“The organization conducted an investigation through video review and eyewitness accounts,” the statement reads. “The ban is based on excessive and derogatory verbal abuse directed at a player during the game that violated the NBA Code of Conduct.

“The Utah Jazz will not tolerate fans who act inappropriately. There is no place in our game for personal attacks or disrespect.”

Westbrook was also fined $25,000

Westbrook did threaten to put hands on a woman. This was all so ugly. Hopefully, the league learns and improves from this instance.