As you’ve probably read elsewhere, Lakers G Steve Blake — whose family faced death threats after his poor shooting performances during last year’s playoffs — was hit with a $25,000 fine for confronting a fan during last Friday’s home loss to the Clippers. The LA Times’ Bill Plaschke notes this wasn’t just any schmoe with a foam finger ; the object of Blake’s ire, Lance Jackson is the son of Lakers season ticket holder Steve, a superfan whose Bel Air mansion, “contains a replica of the Staples Center court that is sometimes used by visiting teams for a secluded practice.”
Does Lance Jackson’s behavior, if it indeed included the profane personal attack that one source claimed, also bear some scrutiny here? Jackson’s father pays enough money that his family should be allowed to say whatever it wants, but are the courtside customers subject to the same form of crowd control as those in less pricey sections? You would hope that if Jackson were being insulting and inciting, Staples Center red coats would have warned him just as they would have warned some cursing loudmouth in the upper deck.
“It’s a frustrating time, the Lakers had fallen to 0-3,” said Lance. “But at the end of the day, it was a misunderstanding, and we move on.”
Indeed they do, moving further into a season growing more combustible by the moment as increasingly impatient and angry fans mix it up with increasingly frustrated players.
The only thing in general agreement is, Steve Blake really does need to make those open shots.