Wild scenes erupted in the NBL on Sunday night as ‘four spectators’ and several players were ejected as the Adelaide 36ers took on Melbourne United.
United would inflict a huge 113-93 win on the visitors to maintain their standing at the top of the league table.
But ugly scenes erupted during the match with former Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards star Montrezl Harrell being at the heart of the controversy.
The tensions erupted when Harrell was pulled up on a foul on Rob Loe. Both players subsequently fell to the ground before Harrell pushed the Melbourne centre.
It led to a heated fray between both sets of players, with United’s Shea Ili stepping in to push Harrell.
Harrell, 30, had appeared to take a swipe at the Melbourne player, according to ESPN, with United coach Dean Vickerman calling on the NBL to look into the flashpoint.
‘Any time there’s punches thrown and things like that, the league’s gonna deal with it the right way,’ he said
‘I thought we supported each other through that period… I haven’t really watched it back too much.
‘It’s only what my eyes saw at the time. We take a charge, there’s a push that escalates to a little bit more.
‘Once everybody got in there… the league will deal with punches if they’ve connected, and what happens with that one.’
But that was not the end of the drama. Immediately after the altercation, a brawl ensued with several of the 36ers players and fans on the touchline.
Kendric Davis and Matt Weston, the team’s General Manager of Basketball, had been pushed by a fan according to ESPN.
The spectator can be seen brawling with members of the Adelaide side, with Harrell also seeming to confront a gentleman wearing a grey hoodie.
Verbal and physical exchanges followed with Dejan Vasiljevic also being pushed a fan.
The altercation was subsequently broken up by members of the team’s staff, with ESPN adding that ‘four spectators’ were kicked out of the arena.
The man in the sweater was subsequently seen pulling his hood over his head before appearing to walk away from the court.
Harrell, meanwhile, took to X (formerly Twitter to speak out on the incident.
‘But I’m the bad guy right I literally try calm down but then mf want try the tuff,’ he said adding three ‘poop emojis’.
‘So now I’m riding for my team sorry not sorry.’
He received the backing of Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios, who had also been involved with an incident with a fan at Wimbledon.
He had setteld a legal case with a patron in 2022 after he had been heckled by the tennis fan. He had accused her of being ‘drunk out of her mind’ during his final against Novak Djokovic.
‘Spectators should sit down and shut up and clap that’s about it trezz I’m with you,’ Kyrgios wrote.
‘When I came back [from the initial scuffle], we’ve got fans screaming at players,’ 36ers head coach Mike Wells said. ‘All mayhem’s breaking loose on the sidelines.
‘The fans were screaming at our players, and being really, really aggressive with the players.
‘I’ve been in the NBA a long time, I’ve seen a lot of different fights. When people are right in the front row, they cannot do that.
‘They can pay their money, they can cheer, they can yell at us; but, as soon as they start putting hands on people, now it’s a different game. From what I saw, they put their hands on our GM.’
It is understood that the NBL are investigating the incident.
Vickerman added: ‘Fans are there to view the game and to support the game. You never wanna see a crossover between players and fans.
‘You wanna see it in the part of engagement and stuff like that. Obviously, we’ve crossed a line in the game there, where they’ve reacted to whatever’s been said. It’s something that we don’t wanna see.’
