Jusuf Nurkic Ugly Incident With Fan Explained; Fine Handed Down

 It wasn't a pretty scene when Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic came over to a fan on the sideline in Indiana and grabbed his cell phone and tossed it away into the stands. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes has the explanation for Nurkic's actions:

The fan who Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic confronted in Indiana allegedly shouted “your mom is trash” and said his “grandma’s a b**tch,” league sources tell @YahooSports. Nurkic’s grandma passed away of COVID-19 in 2020.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 22, 2022

The fan in question allegedly shouted at Nurkic, “your mom is trash” and said his “grandma’s a b**tch,” according to Haynes' league sources. Making the incident even more appalling is that Nurkic’s grandma passed away of COVID-19 in 2020, reports Haynes.

In the meantime, regardless of the reasoning behind his actions, the NBA is still fining Nurkic $40,000 for accosting the fan. Here's the incident in question:

Nurkic stares down a fan and tosses his phone after the Blazers-Pacers game 😳

(via Sheebswrld/IG) pic.twitter.com/zevnDvjbda

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 21, 2022

Nurkic's former teammate in Portland, Enes (Kanter) Freedom, came to his mate's defense on social media. 

There is a line you don’t cross,
The @NBA needs to protect the players better.

Ban the fan and put in rules to protect the players from this.
Just because they paid for a ticket, doesn’t mean they can harass a player.

How the hell is Nurkic the one who gets fined! https://t.co/cJ7nbzXhdV

— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) March 22, 2022

"There is a line you don’t cross. The @NBA needs to protect the players better. Ban the fan and put in rules to protect the players from this," wrote Freedom.

"Just because they paid for a ticket, doesn’t mean they can harass a player.

How the hell is Nurkic the one who gets fined!"