The Cleveland Cavaliers have identified the fan who directed racial taunts at San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills during Sunday's game at Quicken Loans Arena and have banned him indefinitely.
The fan, whom the team did not publicly identify, is barred from events at Quicken Loans Arena. The team will review the ban after one year.
While Mills was at the foul line, the fan was heard on the ABC broadcast twice yelling, "Hey, Jamaica called, they want their bobsledder back!"
@KingJames am I the only one who heard this guy in the crowd yell “hey Jamaican dog they want their bobsledder back! Hey @Patty_Mills Jamaica just called, they want their bobsledder back!” 😳😠🙅🏾♀️ #SundayFunday ??? @NBA pic.twitter.com/RvHdu88Gzd — Zandra Ashley (@thats_Z_Truth) February 25, 2018
Mills was born in Canberra, his father Benny is from the Torres Strait Islands and mother Yvonne is Aboriginal from the Kokatha people in South Australia.
On Mills' Twitter page he describes himself as "a very proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander" with an Aboriginal mother, Thursday Island father, Naghir Island grandfather and Murray Island grandmother.
Mills responded to a Twitter user who shared a video of the incident on Sunday, saying he hoped to "enlighten this confused, hateful fan."
Additional reporting by AAP and Reuters
