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Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner received a $100 request on Venmo from an upset fan after their overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday three separate times.
Messages like that aren’t unusual for Turner, or any other professional athlete. But finding a troll on Venmo, the popular cash sharing app, is a new one.
“I have never seen anybody have the audacity to talk mess through Venmo, a financial app,” he said Saturday.
So, Turner paid the fan — just not the full amount.
“Here’s a penny for your thoughts,” Turner wrote back while paying the fan 1 cent.
Turner launches fundraiser for Texas families
Naturally, that interaction took off on social media — which prompted fans to send Turner money.
So, the Pacers center is doing something positive with his newfound cash.
He’s going to donate it, and match everything he receives, to help those impacted by the severe winter weather storm that hit Texas this past week.
“All those pennies and two cents in a matter of three or four hours added up to $230,” Turner said Saturday. “Just like that. That’s a lot of pennies. I was like, that’s a lot of people that just got behind this … we decided that we could really take advantage of this [to help a good cause].”
By Saturday, Turner said he had raised more than $12,000.
Turner, who is in his sixth season with the Pacers, is from Bedford, Texas — which sits between Dallas and Fort Worth, one of the hardest-hit areas in Texas when the winter storm hit the state earlier this week. Millions of people were left without power, water and forced to endure below freezing temperatures.
Since he’s not there, Turner realized this was a great way he could help give back.
“I’m from the DFW area. I’m a native, and I’m not there right now. I don’t know what it feels like to be under that tutelage,” Turner said. “I feel like the power being out, people having to boil water, people having to sleep in like the single digits in their households, I could never imagine what that’s like.
“I’m blessed and fortunate enough to have my family members taken care of, but it just kind of hit home to me because those are my people.”
Turner said he will keep the fundraiser going until Monday, and will then determine where best to send the money.
As for the fan who sparked the whole thing, the 24-year-old isn’t bothered. He’s just happy it worked out.
“I’m finally at a point in my career where I can laugh at stuff like that,” Turner said, . “My first couple years in the league, I would’ve took offense to it. I would’ve been mad, I would’ve wanted to say something back, but I’ve been dealing with this for the past two or three years. I can have a great game, I can have a bad game, they love you and they hate you.”
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