Security at Moda Center in Portland removed two fans from the game after they allegedly directed racist comments at Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson.
The guard is one of only two notable Filipino Americans currently playing in the NBA. The other is Jordan Green of the Houston Rockets. The two are both Filipino and Black American.
The exact nature of the comments has not been revealed.
According to Oregon Live, Utah’s Collin Sexton pointed out one of the fans to security during a time-out in the second quarter.
Sarah Todd of the Deseret News tweeted about the incident saying the fan also directed obscene gestures at Clarkson.
A Blazers fan was escorted out of the arena tonight. The fan, according to those who heard the exchanges, was directing racist comments toward Jordan Clarkson and then also flipped the players off for a long while. Sexton pointed the fan out to team security.
— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) November 20, 2022
Security eventually escorted two fans from the game, reported Clutchpoints.
Bleacher Report also said that Clarkson declined to comment about the incident after the game.
Both Clarkson and Green have openly embraced their Filipino heritage with the Philippines even releasing a postage stamp featuring Clarkson.
Clarkson earned a spot on the All NBA Rookie team playing for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2014. After spending four seasons with the LA team, he played in the NBA finals in his only season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018-2019 season. He joined the Utah Jazz in a trade on Dec 24, 2019 and has been there since.
This season he has averaged 17.5 points per game.
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