Police are investigating after a ball boy for the Oklahoma City Thunder tweeted death threats to Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley.
Thunder All-Star Russell Westbrook was hurt when Beverley tried for a steal in the second quarter of Game 2 last Wednesday and ran into his knee.
Westbrook had knee surgery Saturday and is out for the season.
The tweets were deleted as of Saturday night, but the Houston Chronicle reported a tweet from the handle @MitchellBrwn said: 'Patrick Beverly (sic), I'm coming to kill you.'
He later sent another one with Beverley's Twitter name, saying: '(@pavbev21 I'm coming to kill you.'
He later apologized in one tweet and then said he was hacked in another post.
The account has since been taken down.
Oklahoma City police Captain Dexter Nelson tells The Associated Press that their department is working with the Houston police and the NBA to investigate the threats.
The Thunder says in a statement that they 'do not condone his comments. He works game nights on a voluntary basis and the matter will be handled internally.'
According to Yahoo Sports, Westbrook is 'irate' with Beverley.
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Moment of impact: Following an attempted steal by Patrick Beverley (in red) Russell Westbrook injured his knee and is feared to be out for the rest of the season
VIDEO: The incident that injured Russell Westbrook and prompted death threats
Beverley told the Houston Chronicle he wasn't worried about the threats on Twitter but said he didn't want to hurt his opponent.
'I knew my... intent. My intent was no one to get hurt. It's an unfortunate situation. Now, I'm on TNT for the wrong reasons. I can't control what happened,' Beverley said.
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'Last game, someone else did the same thing. I have to move on from the situation and focus on the game,' he added.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks backed up his opponent 'That was not a dirty play. It's part of basketball. One of the things the kid does, he plays hard,' Brooks said.
Row: Westbrook (in front) is said to be irate with Beverley (behind), but the Houston man said he wasn't trying to injure his opponent
'Now, was it unfortunate and was he trying to get under his skin? Absolutely. But it wasn't a dirty play. You want to play physical. You want to play hard. That's what I like. That's how you have to play,' the coach told the Chronicle.
The Thunder won Game 3 Saturday night in Houston, 104-101. Security was increased for the game, but it was done because of the Boston Marathon bombings.