Should Court Storming be Banned?

After winning a significant game, court storming has been the pinnacle of college sports for the last 50 years. Jumping over the metal rail and running through your college sports field is electrifying and brings a connection to all players and students of a university.

Although, at the moment, it seems incredible to be a part of a fantastic tradition, there is an inherent danger with the number of people who are storming either fields or courts at one time. 

Even though court storming has not been the topic in discussion of sports, there is a deep history of court storming resulting in injuries of superstar players at all levels of professional sports. 

In the 1984 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics had a hectic court storming incident that resulted in multiple fans being punched and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabar’s glasses being ripped off during the storming.

Also, in Jan. 2013, NC State beat their arch-rival Duke Blue-Devils, and fans stormed the court right after the game. This resulted in a fan in a wheelchair being pulled over, but luckily, he was saved by NC State forward CJ Leslie after he dropped his glasses and phone onto the court. 

Even though both of those court stormings seem crazy, Duke center Kyle Filipowski recently was involved in a court storming incident after losing at Wake Forest on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2024. After Duke lost the game, Wake Forest fans and students stormed the court, which resulted in Filipowski getting injured after multiple fans ran into him at midcourt.

“It is really ridiculous how the situation was handled. I absolutely felt like it was personal. Intentional for sure,” said Filipowski via WFMY 2 News. 

Filipowski is currently questionable for returning before the season finale against UNC Chapel Hill with an apparent right knee injury due to the court storming. He is currently the No. 10 ranked prospect for the 2024 NBA draft and is expected to be one of the first prominent men taken off the board in this year’s draft. 

This incident could cost Filipowski hundreds of thousands of dollars and risk his stock in the upcoming draft due to the new knee injury.

For both coaches and players, court storming is such a dangerous tradition that it could eventually result in someone being pummeled to death. Banning court storming would not only keep players and coaches safe, but also keep crazy fans from risking their lives over a win at a sporting event.