Do you consider yourself a pretty tolerable person? How much verbal abuse can you take? Could you take being called a monkey? That is the situation Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutumbo found himself in recently. During a preseason game against the Orlando Magic, the 40-year old Congo native was verbally assaulted by a Magic season-ticket holder, who called him a monkey. Mutumbo had to be restrained by officials, and the fan, later identified as Hooman Hamzehloui, was escorted out of the arena. The fan has been banned from attending any NBA games for the next season. After the game, Mutumbo was livid, to say the least. He told reporters that if it ever happened again, he would physically go into the stands. However, Mutumbo later said that he has forgiven him.
“It’s out of my hands. I’ve forgiven him,” said Mutumbo. The fan has since sent Mutumbo a letter of apology, in which he offered to give $5,000 to the charity of the player’s choice. First of all, I would like to applaud everyone involved for handling this unfortunate and inexcusable incident the best way possible. Mutumbo was mature enough to forgive the fan, the NBA was swift and correct in his judgment, and the fan seemed reasonably sincere in his apology. Behavior like this is extremely offensive. It is truly sad to hear of comments like this being made at a sporting event, especially in a league such as the NBA where the vast majority of its players are black. The NBA acted accordingly to the situation. It’s clear that the league does not want a repeat of the November 2004 brawl between Indiana Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans. At the same time, the NBA sent a message to fans that there are limits and crossing them will not be tolerated. Good job, NBA. Congratulations on a job well done.