Ejected 76ers fan explains why he abused Westbrook

The 76ers fan who was ejected from his side's opening night loss to the Thunder has explained why he aggressively flipped Russell Westbrook the bird.

The fan's aggressive act went viral on Thursday (AEDT) but now we know that the abuse was a two-way dialogue.

Dr. Richard Harkaway identified himself as the angry fan via Facebook, and explained that Westbrook had kicked the confrontation off.

"To all my FB friends who are seeing a picture of me on the internet giving the finger to Russell Westbrook. Actually two fingers," Harkaway wrote on Facebook.

"Not as simple as it seems. I love to scream at the players and anyone who has been to a game with me knows this. Part of my charm.

"What you may not have seen on any of the video clips is what started the whole thing, which was Russell Westbrook saying ‘sit down f — ing fat boy’ when I stood up to boo."

Video of the incident (see player above) shows Hardaway standing up and flipping the bird at Westbrook, but none of the previous confrontation.

"I am sometimes sensitive about my plumpness,’"Harkaway said.

"I guess I got a little out of hand."

Westbrook responded to the incident in the post-game press conference after leading his team to an opening night victory.

"Uh, yeah, I know, that’s crazy, right?" the MVP favourite said.

"I turned a new leaf, though. I leave that alone, because that cost me $25,000 last time.

"The fan, he’ll be all right. They can say whatever they want to the players and do what they want, but my job is to play basketball, and that’s what I do."