SAN ANTONIO — The NBA banned two people for life from its arenas on Thursday, after one of them was arrested shortly after running onto the court during Game 1 of the NBA Finals and appearing to take a selfie next to San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama.
The incident occurred midway through the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game between the Spurs and the New York Knicks. The NBA did not disclose what role the second banned person, who did not run onto the court, played in the incident.
“The individual who entered the court area during Game 1 of The Finals was arrested and will be banned for life from all NBA arenas,” an NBA spokesman said in a message sent to The Associated Press and other outlets. “A second individual will also receive a lifetime ban for his role in the incident.”
The person who was arrested after running onto the court is a juvenile, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because that detail — first reported by the San Antonio Express-News — was not revealed publicly.
That fan appeared to enter the court from the sideline opposite the team benches, starting from behind the play and running into San Antonio’s offensive end. The person was quickly pulled from the court by two security guards and it did not appear the person made any physical contact with Wembanyama or any New York players.
“I even hesitate to describe that person as a fan,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday. “They seemed to have some ulterior motive for doing so.”
Wembanyama did not appear bothered by the incident, either as it was happening or afterward.
“I’ve never been in that situation,” Wembanyama said. “I didn’t know how to act.”
He compared the moment to a game in January 2024 when a bat got into the Spurs’ arena and flew around the court, stopping a game against Minnesota for a couple of minutes.
Play on Wednesday was stopped for 1 minute and 29 seconds before the game resumed with a jump ball. The fan who entered the play was taken out of the court area through a baseline tunnel.
“I don’t think it was an event at all,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I thought security got him out of there. I think everybody moved on to the next play.”
Silver lauded crew chief Scott Foster and the game’s officiating crew for handling the incident quickly, not disrupting the game for any longer than necessary.
“It’s unfortunately part of all sports,” Silver said. “There’s lot more security, much more apparatus in place than we needed maybe in the old days. I think the other side of the coin of global attention is that somebody realizes that there’s this enormous platform to do stupid things. So, we learn from every incident.”
League investigating fan’s words to Brunson
Another incident involving fan behaviour occurred in the final minute of Wednesday’s Game 1, when New York guard Jalen Brunson — who had a game-high 30 points in the Knicks’ come-from-behind win — appeared to be upset by something said to him by a patron in a courtside seat.
Silver confirmed Thursday that the league is looking into what was said to Brunson. Asked about that incident, Brunson declined to comment.
“To be honest, I didn’t even see what happened,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “I heard something about it. I didn’t really see it. I don’t know. He’s always pretty calm, pretty composed. I’m sure the fans probably said something crazy to kind of get him going.”
Fan behaviour and conduct has been a point of emphasis for the NBA in recent years, and the league sent a memo to all 30 clubs at the start of this season saying it wants “consistent and vigilant enforcement of the NBA Fan Code of Conduct … to deter and address fan misconduct at NBA games and events.”
The NBA, in that October memo, told teams that arena staff “must be trained to identify behaviour that violates NBA rules and to respond proactively.” The NBA, like many leagues, also has a video detailing a code of conduct for fans played in every arena before each game.
“It is critical that teams and arenas vigorously enforce the Code of Conduct and not tolerate any misconduct that impacts our players, fans, or otherwise disrupts the game,” the league said.
