Friday's "home" loss to the Clippers was frustrating for the then-winless Lakers, and especially for Steve Blake. Getting his first start of the season, Blake racked up three times as many fouls as baskets. Blake heard it from the crowd, but specifically from one fan named Lance Jackson, sitting courtside. Jackson says he yelled at Blake about "[needing] to knock down those open shots"—others nearby say there was a bit more profanity involved.
So Blake confronted the fan, yelling at him from across the court, then, after fouling out, walking over to his seats to continue the conversation. It's hard to tell from the video, but I spotted "bitch," "fuck you," and possibly "suck a dick." This was not a good look. (Or if you're Bill Plaschke, "Of all the wacko things that have happened at the start of this Lakers season, this one takes the raspberry cake.")
Blake was fined by the league yesterday, $25,000 for "directing inappropriate language toward a fan." Later Tuesday, Blake reached out to the fan, and had him and his father over to the Lakers' practice facility to smooth things over. It might've been an honest conciliatory gesture from Blake, or it might've been because the fan's father is a big timer.
Steve Jackson is the chairman of shoe company LA Gear, and the Lakers probably want to stay on his good side. Besides having eight courtside season tickets, Jackson's Bel Air home hosts a massive replica of the Staples Center, down to the championship banners hanging from the rafters. The Lakers often work out potential draft picks at Jackson's gym, and visiting teams have been known to hold their morning shoot-arounds there.
So when Blake takes full responsibility for yelling at Jackson, and says "they're great people and they didn't deserve to have that type of interaction with a player," just keep in mind that the type of people it's OK to publicly berate aren't the ones who can afford floor seats.