The Washington Wizards began the 2021-22 season on a high note with fans hopeful that new head coach Wes Unseld Jr. would turn the team into a contender. However, the team is currently in a freefall of sorts which was clearly reflected by the actions of an assistant coach hopping into the stands to confront a fan.
As reported by ESPN, the outlet covered the actions of assistant coach Mike Batiste as the team hosted the Miami Heat at Capital One Arena on Monday (Feb. 7). During the last minute of the game, a fan heckled the Wizards while sitting behind the team’s bench. Whatever the fan said is up to heavy speculation online but it was enough to get under Batiste’s skin, who nearly made contact with the fan until Montrezl Harrell intervened.
The frustration is high in Washington after off-season moves to ship Russel Westbrook out west to the Los Angeles Lakers was supposed to signal a culture change. The reality is that the Wizards lost nine of their last 11 games, including winnable contests given their level of talent. In some circles, many feel that it’s time to trade team star Bradley Beal while he still has value.
There was also some talk that the team would trade for Domantis Sabonis, although that deal is clearly off the table as the former Indiana Pacers big man is reportedly heading to the Sacramento Kings.
At this rate, the Wizards wouldn’t even get a play-in game berth, something Beal said he desperately wanted to avoid. Now, the team’s front office needs to make some decisions and figure out the future of the team.
It hasn’t been revealed yet if Batiste will face disciplinary action from the NBA.
The incident with a fan and the Wizards bench in which Harrell had to intervene: pic.twitter.com/IiNXUp7Z8x
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) February 8, 2022
—
Photo: Getty
window.addEventListener(‘interaction’, function () {
setTimeout(function () {
var s = document.createElement(‘script’), el = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[ 0 ];
s.async = true;
s.src = ‘https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;
el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);
}, 1000)
});
1.
Suggestion for NBA fans: you don’t wanna mess with Mike Batiste, trust me https://t.co/GavDa6yrsz
— Orazio Francesco Cauchi (@paxer89) February 8, 2022
2.
6-8, 245 Mike Batiste is the last coach I would want to trash talk https://t.co/6dKTZOMPq9
— Neil Dalal (@NeilDalal96) February 8, 2022
3.
The fan seems to be sitting with people wearing jerseys from Turkish team fenerbace. The coach, Mike Batiste played for them for a season before going back to Panathinaikos in Greece.
I don’t know if that means anything, but it could be what the fan was heckling about.
— fofo (@fotiosarva) February 8, 2022
4.
We saw more fire, aggression and passion from Mike Batiste going after the heckler in the stands than we have from the Wizards team the past 3 months. Let that sink in
— David (nobody/somebody) (@LaichItIs) February 8, 2022
5.
Whoever the hell this is, I hope it’s not a Wizards fan cuz how tf are you gonna go after your own teams assistant coach like that lol pic.twitter.com/Gi6sI9QisE
— Christian (@TheMageech) February 8, 2022
6.
“You gotta take the high road.”
Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. after an assistant coach had to be pulled back from the stands at the end of #WizHeat. pic.twitter.com/VQzh9GJDdG
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) February 8, 2022
7.
So Wizards Assistant coaches fighting fans now? Lmaooo what a joke of an organization. I hope that fan slapped him tf out of that “coach”
— Tone (@ToneTalksWiz) February 8, 2022
8.
Wizards hired a brand new coach to manage a young roster of players that have 0 experience with each other.. what was supposed to happen
— furleezy (@mfurlong527) February 8, 2022