{"id":749223,"date":"2026-06-01T00:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/749223\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T00:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:39:17","slug":"spurs-fan-17-declared-brain-dead-after-horrific-accident-while-celebrating-conference-final-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/749223\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs fan, 17, declared brain-dead after horrific accident while celebrating conference final win"},"content":{"rendered":"

A young NBA fan suffered catastrophic head injuries after falling from a moving vehicle while celebrating a San Antonio Spurs playoff win<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jose \u201cJoey\u201d Rodriguez, 17, is in critical condition and brain-dead following the incident, which took place during the celebrations after the Spurs\u2019 Game 6 victory<\/a> over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, San Antonio Express News reported.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The teen was celebrating the win, which sent the Western Conference to a seventh deciding game, when he fell off the vehicle and hit his head, according to relatives.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez was rushed to an ER before being transported to another local hospital due to the severity of his injuries.<\/p>\n

Jose \u201cJoey\u201d Rodriguez, 17, is in critical condition and brain-dead after the accident. GoFundMe<\/p>\n

Spurs fans celebrate a win while honking along SW Military Drive in San Antonio. San Antonio Express-News via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He was sitting on the open passenger-side window of the vehicle when it hit a curb, causing him to fall and smack the pavement, his aunt, Yvonne Hudson, told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe left blood all over the street,\u201d Hudson said.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez\u2019s friends rushed him to a nearby clinic, where he had no pulse for eight minutes and was transferred to a trauma center due to the severity of his head injuries.<\/p>\n

The teenager is brain dead and is not expected to survive, a police source told the outlet. <\/p>\n

A young fan was seriously injured Saturday night after celebrating San Antonio\u2019s thrilling win over Oklahoma City in the NBA Western Conference finals. San Antonio Express-News via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He asked his parents for permission to celebrate the Spurs\u2019 win, but they were initially hesitant because of the \u201cnonsense\u201d happening among crazed fans, Hudson added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After he assured his mom and dad that another parent would chaperone the celebration, they agreed to let him go. Instead, Rodriguez went with only his friends, the relative explained.<\/p>\n

The hardworking teen was set to graduate from Frank Tejada Academy in San Antonio next year and worked at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q, according to his aunt.<\/p>\n

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, center, walks over to Spurs fans as he holds his MVP trophy after the win. AP Photo\/Tony Gutierrez<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe to support Rodriguez\u2019s recovery and medical expenses described him as a \u201cyoung man with a kind heart who has always been there for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKnown for his positive attitude, willingness to help anyone in need, Joey has touched the lives of so many people,\u201d the fundraiser added.<\/p>\n

Relatives remain gathered around Rodriguez\u2019s hospital bed over the weekend, where doctors are expected to disconnect him from life support.<\/p>\n

The exact circumstances behind Thursday\u2019s incident remain under investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe San Antonio Police Department extends our sympathy to the family, friends and loved ones affected by this tragic and preventable incident,\u201d the SAPD said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis serves as an important reminder that public safety is a shared responsibility. We encourage everyone celebrating to follow traffic laws, stay inside of your vehicles and follow directions from the officers who are there to keep everyone safe,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n

The Spurs defeated the Thunder on Saturday night to advance to the NBA Finals, where they will face the Knicks<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A young NBA fan suffered catastrophic head injuries after falling from a moving vehicle while celebrating a San…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,48160,6,969,474,4075,4074,66,534],"class_list":["post-749223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio-spurs","tag-basketball","tag-head-injuries","tag-nba","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sanantonio","tag-sanantoniospurs","tag-sports","tag-spurs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116672067182845430","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}