Clippers’ Norman Powell records woman harassing him at gym: ‘Not American’
Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell said he was at a Las Vegas gym when a white woman approached him and told him he is “not American.”
The 28-year-old NBA champion documented the incident in an Instagram Live video, even capturing the moment the woman in question was handcuffed by police, according to footage obtained by TMZ.
“She came here the first time and was saying she got in a fight,” Powell said during the live stream. “We told her to leave out the back. She left, she was gone for about 15, 20 minutes, came back, staying in the gym calling us un-American, saying we need to go back, calling us p—y, a whole bunch of s–t.
“We was trying to get her to leave and then she was trying to take her pants off and take a s–t or piss on the floor,” he added. “And that’s when we pulled her out like, we can’t have that.”
The woman’s identity is unknown as of Wednesday morning.
In a clip from the Instagram Live that has since circulated on Twitter, Powell said: “She came in here earlier talking noise and we sent her away and she came back, talking crazy, saying that we’re not American, which is pretty crazy to me.”
After asking, “How am I not American?” Powell told the woman, “I was born and raised here [in America]. My decedents is from Africa, yes. But I am American. I was born here.”
Once Powell said that the authorities had been called, the woman can be heard in the background saying, “Don’t lie.”
Powell then turned the camera to show another person at the gym, noting the individual was on the phone with the cops in regard to the situation. The former second-round draft pick also informed the woman that she was being filmed on Instagram Live.
“Dude you know that I come from a family of gamblers,” a woman can be heard saying. “My grandfather paid for my grandmother’s ring and she could barely bend her finger from the diamond… I’m calling your s–t. I’m calling your bluff.”
Warning: Graphic language
Powell said, “That has nothing to do with what you’re talking about right now,” and repeatedly added, “I do not care.”
When police arrived at the scene, Powell was still filming the woman in what appeared to be the parking lot of the gym. According to footage published by TMZ, an officer handcuffed the woman while she was sitting on the ground, and detained the woman up against a police car.
“She out here screaming, ‘I can’t breathe’ man,” Powell said. “That is crazy to me.”
The woman was issued a misdemeanor citation for obstructing a police officer, a spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told TMZ on Wednesday. She was also taken to a local hospital on a psychiatric hold, per the spokesperson.
