Mike Murphy, the Philadelphia 76ers fan who was ejected for yelling at Carmelo Anthony during the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss on Thursday, told his side of the interaction on Friday.
Murphy, who is a Sixers season-ticket holder, called into the Angelo Cataldi and the Morning Team show to explain what happened in his eyes.
“He comes down the court,” Murphy said of Anthony. “We’re blowing out in the game. I say to him, ‘You’re a little boy. Let him shoot. Let him shoot.’ He looked at me. He smiles. I think he goes down to the other end of the court. He comes back down…and I say, ‘Let him shoot. He’s a little boy.’ And he lost his cool out of nowhere.”
After the game, Anthony addressed the situation, saying that a certain line was crossed.
“It is what it is,” Anthony said after the game. “Some things were said. Unacceptable. I’m cool with fans heckling, fans talking trash, cheering for their team, booing the other team. I’m all for that. But when you cross certain lines, as a man…that’s what you’re going to see. That’s what you’re going to get, as you saw.”
Anthony finished Thursday’s loss to the Sixers with nine points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc. He also added three rebounds and one assist.
“It’s just certain things you don’t bring to any type of sporting event,” Anthony said. “Certain things you don’t say to anybody. If I was outside and I bumped into you and you said those things to me then it would be a totally different story.”
While Murphy seemingly claims to have meant no harm with his comments, it’s clear that Anthony did not see it the same way on Thursday. Some fans may love to heckle players, but it is obviously not worth crossing a line.
Anthony has been solid for the Lakers this season, as he is averaging 13.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from deep.
The Lakers and Anthony are hoping to turn things around in the near future. Los Angeles is just 24-25 on the season and in danger of landing in the play-in in the Western Conference if things don’t improve soon.
