The loudest moment of Russell Westbrook’s return to Crypto.com Arena didn’t come from a highlight or a stat line – it came from the stands. Late in the fourth quarter, a courtside fan was ejected after repeatedly heckling Westbrook with the familiar “Westbrick” taunt, a reference that has followed him since his turbulent Lakers stint.

The exchange lasted several moments before arena security stepped in and escorted the fan out, drawing attention away from what had already become a lopsided night on the floor.

The night ended in a 125–101 loss for the Sacramento Kings, as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game skid with a wire-to-wire performance. Westbrook, now wearing Kings colors, finished with 13 points on 6-of-17 shooting, along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 26 minutes. While the numbers were serviceable, they did little to shift the momentum in a game where Sacramento was consistently outmatched.

Despite the uneven outing, Westbrook has been one of the steadier presences for a struggling Kings team this season. Entering the night, he was averaging 14.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 7.1 assists, helping stabilize a backcourt that has searched for consistency amid an 8–24 start.

But against his former team, and in an arena that still carries the weight of his past – the storyline drifted away from the box score, defined instead by a brief but telling moment that underscored how much his Lakers tenure still lingers.

This isn’t entirely new territory for Russ—he’s had similar run-ins with hecklers over the years, often leading to ejections when things cross into personal territory. Westbrook has been vocal about not tolerating disrespectful taunts, especially ones he feels target his family or go too far.

“When it comes to basketball, I don’t mind the criticism of missing and making shots. But the moment it becomes where my name is getting shamed… Westbrick to me is now shaming my name and my legacy for my kid.”

Yet this has left fans divided. The Internet is starting to feel Russ too habituated to getting fans ejected.

The internet is split on Russell Westbrook’s reaction to fans

Russell Westbrook has had his share of run-ins with hecklers over the years, and while some cross clear lines into disrespect or worse, others spark debate about where the line should be drawn. To fans, this ejection feels tame by comparison to the heavier ones.

Earlier this year, a heckler called him ‘boy’ among other choice words and was thrown out. This incident is starting to feel as tame as that.

“Be letting anyone get to him, it’s sad,” was one of the tamer comments.

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He connected on just 1 of his 5 three-point tries, contributing to an inefficient night amid Sacramento’s 125-101 defeat. A spectator captured the frustration in real time, posting: “Westbrook missed open 3, missed contested 3, had a turnover, and a missed layup that ended with a backboard slap leading to a fast break three.”

The performance drew plenty of attention online, with fans and observers dissecting the misses and turnovers that fueled the blowout loss. Westbrook’s signature intensity was on display, but so were the inconsistencies that have defined parts of his recent campaigns.

Considering all this, ‘Westbrick’ is probably nicer than some of the harsher labels going around social media. Although that heckler isn’t getting spared either for his creative limits. “Imagine getting ejected for a bad pun 😅 that’s one way to learn your lesson.”

Despite the lacklustre performance, Russ surpassed Dominique Wilkins for 16th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with a field goal in the fourth quarter, a day after he surpassed Magic Johnson on the NBA’s all-time assists leaderboard. He’s currently 51 points away from becoming the highest-scoring point guard in NBA history over Oscar Robertson.

One observer captured the moment bluntly: “got a fan ejected wit 2mins left in the 4th quarter bro just go to the locker room.” Another reaction highlighted the surprise: “Front row thrown out? Wow ok.”

It’s a fair point—courtside tickets aren’t cheap, often running into the thousands for a spot that close to the action. Fans shell out that kind of money expecting to soak in the full game experience, not risk an early exit over persistent chirping.

Russ, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant are called cranky in multiple ways for responding to common heckling. There is an outlier in this club, as someone pointed out, “Fans call KD all types of names and things, yet he never got anyone kicked out.”

However, there’s also a pattern. A fan posted a quick reminder, “This is why he cant even feel comfortable bringing his kids to the games. Sad.” Westbrook indeed stopped bringing his kids to games when he played with the Lakers from 2021 to 2023 to keep them away from the toxic conduct of fans.

Yet, now Lakershow accuses him of being a hair’s trigger away from throwing out spectators. Though there’s a simple solution to that. “Stop disrespecting Russ, and y’all won’t get kicked out🤷🏾‍♂️.”