The National Basketball Association has handed down permanent bans to two individuals, including a teenager who stormed the playing court last week during the opening game of the NBA Finals in San Antonio, all in an attempt to snap a selfie with San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, league officials confirmed Thursday.
The disruptive incident unfolded midway through the fourth quarter of Game 1 at the Frost Bank Center, where the New York Knicks held on to secure a win over the Spurs in the first matchup of the championship series. Witnesses and game footage show the unidentified juvenile fan ran across the court with a smartphone held high, stopping directly in front of Wembanyama and Knicks center Mitchell Robinson before security personnel could intervene. The pair of star players appeared taken aback by the uninvited intrusion, before guards quickly removed the fan from the playing surface and paused the contest for several minutes.
Per official statement from an NBA spokesperson, the individual who entered restricted court space was taken into custody by local law enforcement immediately after the incident, and will be barred indefinitely from entering any NBA-owned or operated arena across the league. A second individual, who aided the fan in planning or executing the court breach, will also receive the same lifetime ban, the spokesperson added.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to local outlet the San Antonio Express-News that the primary suspect is a minor, so his identity will remain protected under juvenile privacy laws. He still faces two misdemeanor charges: intentionally disrupting a lawful public gathering and criminal trespassing, as event signage clearly prohibits unauthorized entry onto the playing court.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Wembanyama shared that the encounter left him caught off guard, a reaction he compared to a bizarre incident from his rookie season. “I’ve never been in that situation,” the French 7-foot-4 phenom explained. “I didn’t know how to act. It really surprised me, almost as much as that time a bat crossed the court.” That earlier 2023-24 season incident at the same arena saw a stray bat fly across the playing surface mid-game, creating an unexpected disruption.
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson downplayed the severity of the encounter in his post-game remarks, noting that security handled the situation quickly and efficiently. “I don’t think it was an event at all,” Johnson said. “I thought security got him out of there. I think everybody moved on to the next play.”
Beyond the court storming, the league is also investigating a separate separate incident involving another fan and Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson during the closing minutes of Game 1. Broadcast footage captured Brunson engaged in a heated verbal exchange with a courtside fan, after which he complained about the individual’s behavior to veteran referee Scott Foster. The Athletic reports league officials are currently reviewing whether the fan engaged in inappropriate taunting of Brunson, with potential disciplinary action pending the outcome of the probe.