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Sacramento Kings star Keegan Murray was surprised to learn that a fan had died during his team’s In-Season NBA Tournament game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
The news of the fan’s death at the Golden 1 Center was revealed when the Kings issued a statement about the incident on social media.
“During the first quarter of the Kings vs. Pelicans game, a guest had a medical emergency,” the team wrote.
“EMS immediately responded and administered CPR. Tragically, these efforts were unsuccessful and the guest passed away.
“The organization offers its deepest condolences to the guest’s family and loved ones.”
After the game, Kings forward Keegan Murray said he and the rest of the team was not aware of the fan dying.
“Sadly, there was a a death tonight in the the arena,” a reporter said to Murray at the post-game press conference. “One of the fans passed away.
“Were you guys aware of that at all on the bench? Did you do you hear about that at any point during the game? How do you react to something like that?”
“No, we weren’t aware of that at all,” Murray replied.
“As a team, we give our condolences to the passing and obviously I want to tell all of our guys that hopefully the family is being taken care of.”
According to Fox40.com, the fan’s medical emergency occurred at around 7:25 p.m. so the fan died shortly after tip-off.
The Sacramento Fire Department and paramedics were called to the scene at the arena.
“Golden 1 Center staff was notified that someone was unresponsive,” the Sacramento Fire Department stated. “When the engine got there they found a 30’s aged male.”
They administered CPR for 20 minutes, but, unfortunately, the fan was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kings guard Malik Monk also shared his condolences with the family of the deceased fan on social media after the game.
Heard the news about the fan tonight my condolences goes out to the family. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🕊️
— Malik Monk (@AhmadMonk) December 5, 2023