The New Zealand Breakers believe there was a misunderstanding behind alleged racial comments directed at Perth Wildcats centre Nate Jawai.
The Breakers 99-78 win over the Wildcats at North Shore Events Centre was overshadowed when Perth coach Trevor Gleeson told media after the game he had called for extra security after racist remarks from the crowd.
Breakers chief executive Richard Clarke said they take racist allegations very seriously at the club, but believes it may be a case of a mishearing.
"It's serious when someone makes an allegation of racial abuse and we take it very seriously because our fan culture is completely the opposite of that. It's all about supporting our team and respecting the opposition," said Clarke.
"I don't know if it's an alleged culprit, when Nate picked up his third foul and left the court there was a clear exchange between our fans and him, which isn't unusual and the nature of basketball.
"We're getting fans approaching us who sit in that area which is all season members and some people who have been with the club for 10 years plus, and they self-police the behaviour in the crowd, and there coming to us and saying they don't believe there was anything racial in what was said.
"If anything there was misunderstanding or a mishearing by Nate on what was said. It was no different from the banter you get between the fans and the players.
Clarke said that a packed out North Shore Events Centre gets very loud on game days and he wouldn't be surprised if things get misheard.
"From particularly that group of fans, it's not a group we would ever expect anything like that from. They respect the game and enjoy the interaction with the other team.
"I think we will explain to the Wildcats and even send them through the feedback we got from our members saying what they believe happened, and I think we'll be able to resolve it and clarify what's happened."
Perth choose not to lodge an official complaint, releasing a statement saying they have "moved on" from the incident.
"During the first half of Wednesday night's 21-point loss to the NZ Breakers, Perth Wildcats centre Nate Jawai was taunted whilst being subbed out of the game," the statement read.
"As this was an isolated incident limited to one person, Nate and the club have decided to move on and focus on Friday night's home game against the Adelaide 36ers at Perth Arena."
Watch the video for the full interview with Richard Clarke.
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