NHL's Devante Smith-Pelly on Racist Heckling: 'Something Needs to Change'
NHL's Devante Smith-Pelly Calls for Change After Racist Taunts
Washington Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly is glad the fans who heckled him for being a black hockey player were dealt with ... but he says it ain't enough.
"I don't really have all the answers, but something needs to change," Devante told TMZ Sports.
DSP was in the penalty box during a game at the United Center on Saturday ... when a group of nearby fans starting chanting "basketball" at him.
No surprise -- he was triggered.
Those 4 fans were booted from the arena -- and later hit with a lifetime ban -- but Devante told us addressing this one incident doesn't solve the larger problem.
"It shouldn't happen anywhere -- hockey, baseball, basketball -- it shouldn't happen in the world."
FYI, there have been several instances of black athletes dealing with racist fans in recent years.
In 2011, NHLer Wayne Simmonds had a banana thrown at him in Ontario, Canada ... and just last year, MLB star Adam Jones was repeatedly called the n-word and had a bag of peanuts hurled at him in Boston.
