Fan aid not required

The NBL has moved to remind fans sitting in courtside seats to keep off the court during games, even if a player is in distress due to injury.

The comments come after a well-intentioned fan leapt the aid of Adelaide’s Dejan Vasiljevic on Saturday night when the shooting guard crashed to the floor writhing in pain, due to severe cramp.

The guest, seated in Row A at John Cain Arena for United’s game against the 36ers, quickly told security he was a trained physiotherapist and helped “DJ” stretch out his leg to alleviate the discomfort – an act that raised many eyebrows but was also met with great levels of appreciation from Vasiljevic.

“That’s probably the worst cramp I’ve ever had in my life … I’ll be sending him a jersey and a signed pair of shoes for his help,” Vasiljevic said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This fan got very close to the action last night ? <a href="https://t.co/k9Sx3MnNzv">pic.twitter.com/k9Sx3MnNzv</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1736180078432936434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While the NBL also appreciated the fan was acting in good faith, it has taken the opportunity to deliver a subtle reminder to those in close proximity to the players.

“Our VIP and courtside seats put fans right amongst the action and gets them closer to the game than in any other sport – but with that access comes the expectation they remain in their seats and stay off the court,” NBL Head of Competitions and Operations, Sean Gottliebsen said.

“We acknowledge in this case there was a very special set of circumstances in that the patron, a physiotherapist, saw a person in front of him in pain and wanted to help – which is admirable – but we have professional medical staff with each team to perform those duties and for obvious reasons, we can’t have spectators entering the court during live play no matter the circumstances.”