Illawarra Hawks co-owner James Spenceley has labelled an incident involving the wife of MVP Jerome Randle as “disgusting”, as the NBL confirmed it is investigating the matter.
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Spenceley confirmed a plate of food had been thrown after full-time in the Hawks’ 106-98 victory over Adelaide, sending them into the NBL grand final series, starting on Sunday.
His account, supported by other eye-witness reports who spoke to the Mercury, said a girl, believed to be between the ages of six and eight, was left visibly upset, after being left with food on her.
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Hawks import Rotnei Clarke and fellow guard Rhys Martin later comforted the girl, after Randle’s wife Zhordan was escorted from the arena by security guards.
Spenceley said he later confronted Randle in the heated aftermath. “It’s disgusting, how do you do that to a happy young fan at a game?” Spenceley said.
“There was a whole platter of food thrown and she was very vocal, threatening people.
“I confronted Jerome about the behaviour, it wasn’t at length but we spoke about it. Thankfully the little girl was a real trooper and Rotnei and Rhys were there to help clean her up and cheer her up.”
The incident came after the 36ers star said the Hawks players were “dirty” before the series started, a claim later backed up by teammate Mitch Creek.
There were suggestions the incident involving Randle’s wife came after tensions flared off the court during the opening game of the series, around the time the Adelaide superstar went off with cramp.
However, Spenceley said the incident occured in reaction to Hawks fans celebrating with the “Ill-a-warra” chant in the moments after full-time.
An NBL official confirmed the league was looking into the incident and had spoken to Adelaide about it, but on Friday afternoon, was yet to deliver any findings.
Spenceley will join the Hawks squad in Perth for the five-game series opener on Sunday. The Hawks host game two at WIN Enterainment Centre on Wednesday night.