As the Miami Heat pushed the Chicago Bulls to the brink of elimination Tuesday with a victory in Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals, it became increasingly apparent that several more games (Game 6 of the current series being the lone guarantee) will take place at AmericanAirlines Arena this postseason.
Fans, take note. Prior to Game 4 in Miami, Heat president of business operations Eric Woolworth clarified the team's fan behavior policy in light of an incident Sunday involving Bulls center Joakim Noah, who shouted an anti-gay slur at a fan during Game 3 at AA Arena. While Noah was fined $50,000 by the league, Woolworth said Tuesday that similar action by a fan would result in ejection.
As fan conduct matters are left to individual teams to decide on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, the league endorses a warning prior to ejection, but Jackson intimated that immediate ejection is warranted when hate speech is involved.
For his part, Noah appeared genuinely contrite this week. "I think it's fair," he said in his first comments since learning of the fine amount. "I made a mistake. I'll learn from it and move on."
