Garnett hits fan with ball

[MavsFanFinley]

Garnett ejected for tossing ball into crowd

February 26, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett was ejected in the third quarter of Minnesota's victory over Memphis on Sunday for tossing the ball into the stands and accidentally hitting a fan.

Garnett was reacting in frustration after being called for an offensive foul.

"I just tossed it," Garnett said outside Minnesota's locker room before leaving the arena at the start of the fourth quarter. "I didn't even look at where I tossed it. I was just so ... mad."

Medical personnel examined the fan, who was wheeled from the court on a gurney to boos and later walked with his family and arena personnel to a back room. The fan declined to comment to the media. His condition wasn't immediately available, although he appeared to be uninjured.

With Minnesota leading 64-61 with 7:47 left in the quarter, Garnett was called for the foul while driving against Shane Battier on the baseline. The nine-time All-Star then lightly flipped the ball into the stands under the basket, hitting the male fan.

Garnett, who said he was upset by a previous call, said he didn't intend to throw the ball into the stands, but rather was trying to get a delay-of-game call.

"By no means was I trying to hit a fan," he said.

Referee Bob Delaney assessed Garnett a technical foul for tossing the ball, and he was automatically ejected because it hit the fan. Afterward, Garnett walked over to the fan to apologize before leaving the court. Television cameras showed a young girl sitting next to the man in tears.

"It was an accident and he apologized profusely," Wolves coach Dwane Casey said.

Before leaving the arena, Garnett said he again checked in on the family to apologize.

"I should have had a little more control than that," Garnett said.

The former league MVP had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Eddie Griffin replaced Garnett in the lineup.

"Whenever there is an incident inside of our arena involving a fan, we're going to treat it very, very professionally and carefully," said Wolves president Chris Wright. Both Wright and Casey apologized on behalf of the team.

"I know Kevin feels bad about it," Casey said.

[alby]

Originally Posted by MavsFanFinley

The nine-time All-Star then lightly flipped the ball into the stands under the basket, hitting the male fan.

who was the fan, Freddie Mitchell?

[Drbio]

The guy was taken out of the gym on a gurney and the fans booed him? source: ESPN


Stupid fans.

[orangedays]

Originally Posted by Drbio

The guy was taken out of the gym on a gurney and the fans booed him? source: ESPN


Stupid fans.

First time I read the article I thought the fans were booing Garnett...but yes, stupid fans indeed.

[capitalcity]

Innocent spectator? In the face? With a basketball?

Get Jackie Chiles on the phone.

[orangedays]

Kevin Garnett's actions were "lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous"!

[alby]

omg i just saw the video replay of it, this guy is rediculous laff
he is like a grown man, 300+ pounds.. kg literally flips it into the first or second row behind the basket and the next thing you know, the fan is crying

[orangedays]

Originally Posted by alby

omg i just saw the video replay of it, this guy is rediculous laff
he is like a grown man, 300+ pounds.. kg literally flips it into the first or second row behind the basket and the next thing you know, the fan is crying

I wonder how many guys it took to lift the gurney.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by alby

omg i just saw the video replay of it, this guy is rediculous laff
he is like a grown man, 300+ pounds.. kg literally flips it into the first or second row behind the basket and the next thing you know, the fan is crying

Haha, unbelieveable...

Haha, man...

[bernardos70]

Definitely a big guy, the ball was flipped to him, he's all shaky after that, checking his face for blood (of course there wasn't any). He sat there for a while then was taken ou on said gurney........ I don't know what he was trying to do, that definitely wasn't enough for him to be taken out like that. It was quite funny.

[Thespiralgoeson]

What a pansi...

[mary]

I would've booed him myself.....thrown my thundersticks at him too.

[atrewsfan]

The fat sausage will probably sue because he doesn't make enough money posing for Playtoad magazine...

[alby]

he was sitting in the front row of a basketball game, I'm sure he's pretty well off

[Usually Lurkin]

the replay at nba.com didn't show the ball actually hitting the guy. Leaves you wondering how the guy was as shook up as he appeared to be - cause KG didn't give the ball enough force to call it a throw or even a toss - maybe a bounce. The dude sure gave KG a staredown, though, when KG went over to check on him / apologize.

I have to admit my first thought when I saw the guy shaking while someone tended to him was, "he's faking it for the lawsuit." I expected the game highlights to end with a shot of him standing oustide with a cane and a neckbrace, shaking his fist in to the camera.

That's really unfair, though, cause if he wasn't expecting the ball, and it hit him weird right in the face, I can see him being shaken up, and even alittle dizzy, which would prompt officials at the arena to pull out a gurney.

in conclusion - "stupid, supid KG. Too bad you and your team suck."

[orangedays]

I just saw the replay...dude what a f*ckin schmuck to try and pull this sh*t. The dude's daughter is probably sitting there like "what's going on? why's Daddy crying?" - "Daddy's milkin' it...daddy's gettin' us a new H3". Hell.

[MavKikiNYC]

What do you suppose would've been the response if say the fan had gently tossed say a soda cup that had hit KG in the face?


Two game suspension coming.

[Usually Lurkin]

I'm sure KG would have been on his knees, hands shaking, suffering under the shock of impending death. Undoubtedly they would have had to take him out on a gurney.

kidding (and the dude's motivation) aside, suspensions will be deserved.

[Drbio]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

the replay at nba.com didn't show the ball actually hitting the guy. Leaves you wondering how the guy was as shook up as he appeared to be - cause KG didn't give the ball enough force to call it a throw or even a toss - maybe a bounce. The dude sure gave KG a staredown, though, when KG went over to check on him / apologize.

I have to admit my first thought when I saw the guy shaking while someone tended to him was, "he's faking it for the lawsuit." I expected the game highlights to end with a shot of him standing oustide with a cane and a neckbrace, shaking his fist in to the camera.

That's really unfair, though, cause if he wasn't expecting the ball, and it hit him weird right in the face, I can see him being shaken up, and even alittle dizzy, which would prompt officials at the arena to pull out a gurney.

in conclusion - "stupid, supid KG. Too bad you and your team suck."

At least one person didn't jump to a rediculous conclusion. Bottom line....yo ujust do not know. Fans booing this guy were pathetic regardless.

[mary]

Front row at my favorite sport...get hit in the face by an errant throw from KG....KG gets thrown out, but comes over an apologizes first....

Shit, that's a helluva a story for the kiddies.

Where do I sign up? (and can I specify which superstar I want to smack me in the face?)

Sorry, but if that happened to me, I would've marked it down on my calendar as a good time.

KG went over and checked on the guy, and the guy looked like he was acting like a complete jerk. Nothing that has happened since the incident has changed my mind.

If he has some condition, then he should reconsider his season tickets. In the normal course of any game, it is NOT unusual for people in the front row to come into contact with players or be physically involved in the game. KG threw the ball to the sideline, and made a stupid mistake by throwing it too hard. It was stupid - but it wasn't intentional.

Dirk could've easily done the same thing.

And what's the deal with the overuse of gurnies in this society? Everytime someone gets "possibly harmed" these days, they're calling for a neakbrace and a gurney.

Hell, I've been tossed around in a rolling school bus like a (insert analogy here) in fourth grade, and I still managed to WALK to the ambulance and hop in the front seat. Apparently, I was a real bad ass.

[mary]

Originally Posted by MavKikiNYC

What do you suppose would've been the response if say the fan had gently tossed say a soda cup that had hit KG in the face?


Two game suspension coming.

Why would he do that? Are there trash cans on the court?

[dirno2000]

That's really unfair, though, cause if he wasn't expecting the ball, and it hit him weird right in the face, I can see him being shaken up, and even alittle dizzy, which would prompt officials at the arena to pull out a gurney.

If he didn't see the ball coming how did he know that KG threw it? Obviously he was at least looking at the court, otherwise it could have been an errant pass.

[Murphy3]

Kobe hit a fan with two balls without her consent...How long did he get suspended?

[kg_veteran]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Kobe hit a fan with two balls without her consent...How long did he get suspended?

Wow.

Genius.

[Drbio]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Kobe hit a fan with two balls without her consent...How long did he get suspended?

Ba-Zing!!!!!!

[Dirkenstien]

The guy is obviously faking it at the expense of his daughter's experience. Geesh. What some people will do for a dollar.

This reminded me of a story though. I went to a Minny/Dallas game ealier this season and during warmups KG went up for a dunk but bricked it pretty hard. The ball flew up very high and into the crowd where it hit a female worker directly on the back of her head. She rubbed her head a little but walked away fine.

[Dtownsfinest]

What a bitch. Going out on a stretcher from getting the ball tossed towards him. I could understand if it was a child or something but this was a grown ass man. Shit like this is what makes fans across america look bad. How many times have we seen kids get hit with a basketball going full speed at the American Airlines center? If a kid can shake it off I believe a 300 pound man can as well.

[dirno2000]

From an eye witness:

Kevin Zenk of St. Paul, who was sitting behind the fan who was hit, said the ball didn't appear to have much velocity on it.

"It wasn't real hard," Zenk said Asked how he felt the fan reacted, Zenk said: "Overreacted. ... You know, I kind of figured the Oscars were next week, but I don't know if the nominations are all in. He played it up."

I know Garnett will probably settle with the guy to avoid the hassle but I can't imagine a reasonable jury would award him much if anything.

[orangedays]

Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett Fined

NEW YORK, Feb. 27 – Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett has been fined $5,000 for throwing a basketball into the stands, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Senior Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 7:47 remaining in the third period of the Timberwolves 105-99 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at the Target Center on Sunday.

Linkage


Related (sorta):

Minnesota’s Ricky Davis Fined

NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2006 – Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Davis has been fined $5,000 for kicking a basketball into the stands, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Senior Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred at the conclusion of the Timberwolves 102-101 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets at the Target Center on Friday, Feb. 24.

Linkage

[irontoad]

Originally Posted by atrewsfan

The fat sausage will probably sue because he doesn't make enough money posing for Playtoad magazine...

Where can I get this magazine... you must tell me!! NOW!!!!

[XERXES]

Originally Posted by irontoad

Where can I get this magazine... you must tell me!! NOW!!!!

funny.

[EricaLubarsky]

Imma gonna open up a poll with line of the week entires. this is too good

[Big Boy Laroux]

we haven't actually seen the ball hit the guy. a basketball, even if it's tossed softly, can still hurt like hell if it hits you square in the nose.

As for the gurney, i honestly wonder if the guy requested it, or if the arena mandated it (to cover all their bases).

[sixeightmkw]

Look, if the NBA wants to stop all of this, very simple, put up plexiglass from the hockey games and seperate the fans from the players. very simple.

[orangedays]

Originally Posted by sixeightmkw

Look, if the NBA wants to stop all of this, very simple, put up plexiglass from the hockey games and seperate the fans from the players. very simple.

I don't think the situation is that bad (and a basketball, much softer than a puck, will very rarely find its way into the stands at 100+ mph). I'd say that the easiest way to eliminate this is to have people sitting courtside agree to limited or zero-liability contracts prior to the game (or maybe have it on the tickets). There is an inherent risk to sitting down there - what if Shaq flies into you? What if a referee misses a bounce pass from a player and it hits you in the face? What if there is a very forceful errant pass on a play? Such things are normal to the game and the NBA shouldn't leave itself in an actionable position.

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by sixeightmkw

Look, if the NBA wants to stop all of this, very simple, put up plexiglass from the hockey games and seperate the fans from the players. very simple.

full contact checks against the glass and a penalty box? oh, yeah, baby. Count me in.

[sixeightmkw]

We'll call it "Baskey"

[dirno2000]

Originally Posted by Big Boy Laroux

we haven't actually seen the ball hit the guy. a basketball, even if it's tossed softly, can still hurt like hell if it hits you square in the nose.

As for the gurney, i honestly wonder if the guy requested it, or if the arena mandated it (to cover all their bases).

According to witnesses it hit him in the right side of his face.

[mary]

Dodgeball also hurt like hell (and we didn't play with sissy rules)...yet not one time in my miserable two years in Junior High did we have to haul someone off on a gurney

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally Posted by orangedays

Such things are normal to the game and the NBA shouldn't leave itself in an actionable position.

So a MLB fan who gets a line-drive foul facial has no civil recourse?

I don't think that's how it works, is it? The teams settle. I'm almost certain they're insured for that kind of thing. They'd have to be.

And if a Rodman or an Artest or even a Garnett does something intentionally, recklessly or negligently, the player/team/arena isn't responsible? I don't think that's how it works either. The teams settle, as quietly as possible. Money changes hands.