Mavs Fans Apparently Allowed to Hug Opposing Players

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

We’ve seen fans make their way onto the court before, the most recent example being the young man who couldn’t resist coming over to LeBron and shake his hand during a game at MSG. His penalty was four hours in jail.

In Dallas, however, fans can seemingly walk up to players, give them hugs, and return to their seats as though nothing out of ordinary had taken place. Welcome to Rudy Fernandez’s life.

The Oregonian reports:

During a timeout with 41 seconds left in regulation, two women walked onto the court and into the Trail Blazers huddle. One woman wrapped her arms around the waist of Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez from behind. Fernandez, who was not in the game but focused on the plays being diagrammed by coach Nate McMillan, was stunned.

“I was surprised,’’ Fernandez said. “I was listening to the coach on the bench and behind me, she touches me and says, ‘Rudy, I love you. Nice to meet you. Good game.’ “I said, ‘What?’’’

The women were ushered away from the huddle, and amazingly allowed to return to their courtside seats under the basket and watch the remainder of the game, which went to overtime. [Nate] McMillan said he hadn’t heard of the incident, but was wide-eyed when told the details on Tuesday. “What about security?’’ McMillan asked. “That’s not good. I mean, really. If they came out on the floor …’’

Simply amazing.

Dallas security claims the team was not aware of the incident, which took place this past Saturday night. Well, now they are.

It may be time for a little chat with those guys, Mark Cuban.