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Friday night’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets was briefly stopped after a fan charged onto the court and rushed toward Cavs star Donovan Mitchell. The incident occurred with the Cavaliers up 121-115 late in the fourth quarter.
Immediately after a foul occurred, an unknown individual could be seen storming the court and running toward Mitchell, holding his phone out in his hand and seemingly directing it at Mitchell for unknown reasons. Mitchell immediately backed away as he was totally confused by the incident.
The individual in question was quickly dealt with by security, forcing a brief stoppage of play.
“I took a few steps back and then I repositioned my feet and then I was ready to handle whatever, what was necessary,” Mitchell said of the incident. “But the kid wanted a selfie. I know he’s probably [in jail], but, when he gets out, he’s probably got a great selfie, I’m not going to lie.”
Following the disturbance, the Cavaliers would go on to win the game 131-124, with Mitchell putting up 35 points, five assists, three steals and six 3-pointers in the winning effort. The Cavs are now 8-1 against the Nets the last three seasons, and are now 1-1 as they try to avenge their loss in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals despite placing first in conference during the regular season.
“At first, I was confused. And I saw him running towards Don and took a step towards him. But they have great security at Barclays Center,” Cavs center Jarrett Allen said. “Shoutout to them, they took care of it. When he left the court, his feet didn’t touch the ground. They carried him out the building.”
