Panathinaikos went out of the EuroLeague playoffs in the most painful way possible - leading 2-0 in the series against Valencia, only to lose the next three games. The Final Four will be played in their own arena. Without them. And now the players are a target for the abusers on social media.

The forward Nigel Hayes-Davis went onto Instagram with a sharp message for the section of fans who, as he puts it himself, crossed the line in the comments. „Adult people are losing their heads over a children's game. They'd do better to watch their tongues on these apps and stop calling me everything but the name my mother gave me”, the 31-year-old basketball player wrote.

Hayes-Davis followed up with another shot - this time at the heart of fan culture itself: „This sport carries the sunniest moments and the darkest rain, which is fitting for these fair-weather fans we have to deal with. Everyone thinks of themselves as Dave Chappelle and thinks the last joke is also the final word - it isn't.”

For those who watched Panathinaikos all season, this isn't a surprise. The Greek club had one of the best rosters in the league, a dominant position in the regular season, and then a collapse the moment the games started demanding more than talent - mental stability. Coach Ergin Ataman is under scrutiny, the players are taking the heat from the fans, and the team is watching the Final Four being played in its own home.

Hayes-Davis's numbers in the quarter-finals were decent but not dominant - 13 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and a PIR of 10.3 in 30 minutes per game across five matches. That's not what they shouted at him for, nor what they should be shouting at him for. The series was lost by the whole team, not by one player.

Athenian anger is the kind of anger that isn't soothed by a statement. Panathinaikos will have to build a new identity for next season - and most likely without some of the current players. Because in Greek basketball, once you become the symbol of a defeat, it is hard to become the symbol of a victory again.