When a 76ers fan poured popcorn on Wizards guard Russell Westbrook during Game 2 of the teams' Eastern Conference playoff series, it didn't sit well with Metta Sandiford-Artest.
The athlete, formerly known as Ron Artest and Metta World Peace, took to Twitter to call out the fan for his actions.
That’s B.S!!!! This doesn’t sit well. What in the world is that fan doing throwing stuff. This is unacceptable. Wt......!
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorld37) May 27, 2021
Sandiford-Artest's opinion certainly matters. After all, he was involved in one of the most famous player-fan brawls in NBA history.
In 2004, Artest, then a member of the Pacers, went into the stands to fight a Pistons fan who had thrown a beer at him. The incident, which became known as "The Malice in the Palace," resulted in Artest being suspended for 86 games, an NBA record for a non-drug-related suspension.
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And seeing the popcorn dumped on an injured Westbrook as he walked to the locker room Wednesday night brought him back to that moment.
"I felt like I was going to run into the stands," Sandiford-Artest told USA TODAY Sports. "It shook me up a little bit."
Sandiford-Artest would go on to refer to the actions of the fans as "disrespectful."
"Popcorn doesn’t hurt, but that’s really disrespectful. The problem is an athlete at that point in time is focused on the game," Sandiford-Artest said. "You can’t throw stuff when you’re watching people perform. You can’t throw stuff at anybody. It doesn’t matter where you’re at."
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Many Twitter users agreed with Sandiford-Artest's thoughts, and retrospectively said that he was right for choosing to fight the fan in Detroit all those years ago.
Ron Artest did nothing wrong https://t.co/uUWbLL8uLi
— Will 🦥 Menaker (@willmenaker) May 27, 2021
Ron Artest was not wrong for fighting a fan
— raMEANa. (@Ramina1690) May 27, 2021
Ron Artest, if a fan threw popcorn at him pic.twitter.com/SZufx9km7x
— FrostedBlakes (@BlakeGarman09) May 27, 2021
Philly fans had ‘Ron Artest in Detroit’ flashbacks and snitched on that guy QUICK 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/DyfpIolo4E
— Moderna Mandem (@showmeyrtwittie) May 27, 2021
If popcorn was thrown at Ron Artest pic.twitter.com/yGOCcQy4kl
— FrostedBlakes (@BlakeGarman09) May 27, 2021
All I know is, if fans saw that these guys will square up like Ron Artest did, they’ll chill out
— Chris Uno Cero (@ceroto60) May 27, 2021
pic.twitter.com/rYTahF9ahx
Since Westbrook was restrained by security, he didn't get a chance to go after the fan. And despite his opinions on the incident, Sandiford-Artest said that ended up being a good thing for all involved.
"Westbrook was pissed, and he had the right to be pissed," he said. "But I’m so happy that he was around people. Security was incredible."
Indeed, the fan was lucky that he only had his season ticket revoked and received an indefinite ban from the Wells Fargo Center.
Had Westbrook not been surrounded by security, it could have been much worse.