It is no secret that NBA fans can sometimes behave badly, in the name of ‘passion’. From allegedly shouting for LeBron’s son to have an accident in front of the player to Raptors fans throwing derogatory terms and references at Steph Curry’s mum as she returned to her hotel, instances of such moments have become more common in recent times. Another disruption that hadn’t taken place in a long time was someone running to the court! Seemingly, frustrated with things in the Wolves-Knicks game, two people decided to repeat that action.

As the ongoing NBA game at the Target Center reached half-time, two women stood up as the whistle blew. They sat only a few rows behind the courtside seats. It took security some time to notice, as they ran across the court. But once they were spotted, it didn’t take long for them to pin down the women. 3 men had to escort one woman out, with two holding her legs, while the other lifted her arms.

NBA reporter Phil Mackey confirmed that police arrested at least one of them. The reporter also posted that the women were “protesting the pathetic 2nd quarter effort by the Timberwolves”. Therefore, “it’s tough to blame her”.

The claim by Phil Mackey is all but speculation. After all, there is no clear reason why the two women chose to engage in an action that was sure to get them into trouble. Nothing that they were wearing specified an allegiance towards a particular team, or cause.

However, if they really were protesting the efforts of the Wolves squad, then that would be somewhat understandable, not justified. After all, ANT barely held a 33-32 lead when the 1st quarter concluded. Over the next 12 minutes, however, the Knicks added 41 more points to their total, while the home side could only add 18. The scoring gap wasn’t so big during the 3rd quarter, but Jalen Brunson and Co. continued holding the advantage. As a result, with 10:34 mins remaining in the 4th quarter, Minnesota trailed by 74-109!

It was only recently that the Minnesota Timberwolves were able to improve their position on the points chart after winning 6 of the last 7 games. Now, from the looks of it, the team may be once again heading towards a downward spiral.

Given the abysmal performance from Anthony Edwards and Co.’s side, the ‘protest’ may not be the top story of the day. However, it still left an impression on the attendees at the Target Center. After all, it is not every day that fans attempt to run across the court, and are pinned down and escorted out by security.

Have people previously disrupted an NBA game by running onto the court?

The most recent example of a game being disrupted because of a fan took place back in April 2022. Ironically, the Wolves were a part of this game too. They were hosting the Grizzles during Game 4 of the first round of their playoff series. As 10:44 minutes remained in the third quarter, a fan, who was seated in the second row behind the Timberwolves’ bench stood up and ran onto the court.

Reports revealed that the individual, Sasha Zemmel, was a member of Direct Action Everywhere. It is an animal rights activist org that had previously protested during two other Minnesota games. Similar to the recent incident, Zemmel was immediately tackled on the court and carried away by security. According to USA Today, Zemmel was wearing a ‘fake ref uniform (that) had 5.3 displayed on the back’. This was in reference to the 5.3 million chickens whose killing was earlier highlighted by the organization.

Before that, another NBA playoff game was disrupted by an individual. As the Wizards and the 76ers faced off back in 2021, another fan took to the court. The players were heading toward Washington’s basket, during the third quarter, when the incident occurred. The intruder jumped as if he was pretending to dunk, bringing the game to a halt. Referencing the restrictions because of COVID-19, Robin Lopez stated, “You can tell those people have been in some sort of captivity for the last year, year and change, right? It’s kind of wild to see the liberties people are taking”.

The recent disruption during the Knicks-Timberwolves game was not the first example of such an incident happening. There is a good chance that it also won’t be the last… What do you think?