For some reason, there’s more news this offseason from former NBA players than there is from current guys. The latest comes from South Florida, where a man has filed a lawsuit in “excess of $15,000” against former All Star forward Jamal Mashburn. The man says both he and Mashburn were playing golf, when Mash hit a tee shot that hit him in the eye.
According to the suit, Mashburn didn’t yell “fore” or warn the man in any other way, and as a result of the injury the man has permanently lost vision in one eye.
As a frequent golfer, I thought this was a little bit odd. First thing, when you’re out there on the course, there are several times I’ve come close to hitting someone else without yelling fore. Maybe the ball took a crazy bounce, or maybe Mashburn lost sight of the ball in the sun.
More than that, when you’re on the links you know there’s a chance something could happen. Golf balls have sailed near me plenty of times, both with and without warning. It’s a part of the game, for better or worse.
And this has nothing to do with anything, but anyone remember that old story in Sports Illustrated where Mashburn and some of his teammates went to a baseball game and a woman at the game mistook him for Tyrone Hill? Talk about needing a warning…
