The fan, a middle-aged man, reacted as if he'd been, well, kicked in the groin by Dennis Rodman. He sat there stunned for a long time. He didn't seem to acknowledge Garnett, who came over immediately to apologize.
After a few minutes, the fan's pain seemed to get worse. Never mind that Garnett didn't really throw the ball that hard, and that it appeared to strike the guy in the side of the face. For some reason, the fan suddenly couldn't walk under his own power. He had to be wheeled off in a gurney.
Some T'wolves fans even began to boo as the fan was being led off the court. One fan, who was seated behind the man who was hit, said the ball didn't appear to have much velocity on it. "It wasn't real hard," Kevin Zenk told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Asked about the man's reaction, 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."