Before the Warriors beat the Celtics Saturday night, Kevin Durant went through his pregame routine at Oracle Arena. The end of that routine did not go as planned.
Durant hit a ball straight up into the air, but the ball sailed away and went into the stands. Usually there wouldn't be a big crowd hours before a game, but this is the Warriors. The ball came straight down and hit a fan in the face, cutting him with his glasses, reports Marc Stein of The Undefeated.
So Kevin Durant punched a ball into the air pregame and hit a fan in the head. Kevin apologized, brought the fan to the locker room later, signed some shoes (ESPN) pic.twitter.com/LUcupgfKbi— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 28, 2018
The man wasn't your average fan either. Durant injured 75-year-old Joseph Franzia, a Marine veteran with three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star from his service in Vietnam. Those in the Bay Area know that last name too. Franzia is a family member of the Franzia wine company.
Durant rushed into the stands to profusely apologize and offered Franzia locker room access with him and the team. After the game, Durant signed a pair of shoes for Franzia, which he's giving to his son-in-law... a Cavs fan.
Joseph Franzia is feeling a lot better now and is about to visit with Kevin Durant after pre-game accident being hit by wayward ball. pic.twitter.com/xzhibqhSlW— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) January 28, 2018
Sports
Franzia invited Durant to share a glass of wine at one of his vineyards, capping off this rough start to a happy ending.
