A teenager who ran onto the court of the first NBA Finals game between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks was arrested by local police and will receive a lifetime ban from all NBA arenas moving forward, local police told reporters on Thursday.
The individual will not be named because he is a juvenile, a spokesperson with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The teenager ran onto the court during the start of the game’s fourth quarter. With his cell phone in hand, the teen appeared to want a “selfie” with Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and approached the star basketball player before he was apprehended by security and escorted off the court.
The incident led to a brief delay of game while officials worked to determine who had possession of the ball. A “jump ball” was eventually called for, which Wembanyama won, and the game continued.
Cameras from ESPN captured the entire incident, with commentators berating the teen for interrupting the game, though it didn’t appear to stop the momentum of play: The game remained close in score until the final few minutes, when the Knicks defeated the Spurs by 10 points.
The teen will be banned from all NBA arenas as part of his punishment, a move that is consistent with prior league actions involving disruptive fans. The Sheriff’s Office has referred criminal charges of trespass and interference with a meeting or procession to local prosecutors, who have yet to take up the case.
An Instagram profile associated with a teenager named Chris included multiple videos shot from first-person perspective, according to a review of the account by The Desk. Before Thursday, the account was promoting numerous cryptocurrencies. Several photos on the account include a person that resembled the teenager who stormed the court on Thursday and identical phrasing that appeared on his shirt.
A second person, who was also not named, faces a lifetime ban from NBA arenas for their involvement in the incident, though they are not being criminally charged. It wasn’t clear what role they played in the matter.
