Former Kansas University guard, Brannen Greene, is lucky to be alive today after his Uber blew up over the weekend as he returned home from an NBA Draft workout in New York. It's unclear who had the aux cord at the time.
The horrifying ordeal took place last Friday night and according to Brannen's dad, Jeffrey, he was lucky to escape with just minor injuries.
“Brannen was trapped inside a car as a (ride-sharing service) passenger following an accident at Major Deegan Expressway, Bronx, N.Y., and 233rd St., after arriving from Los Angeles where he had NBA team workouts,” Jeffrey said. “The car was struck from behind with so much force it immediately went airborne, came down on a guardrail (with Brannen in back seat), went airborne again and caught fire. It exploded no more than five seconds after he escaped through an opening in a shattered window,” Jeff added.
“Everything in the car — his phone, his computer, his luggage was burned and destroyed. The police said Brannen should not have survived. He walked away from it with a terrible headache, all-over body aches but for the most part he’s just dealing with mental trauma,” Jeff Greene said. “To think he survived this … he said when the car got hit he felt like he was asleep, dreaming. He said, ‘I could see all this fire and I was getting hot.’ He said, ‘I’ve got to get out. I couldn’t get out. I couldn’t find my seatbelt and the wraps. I got scared. I finally hit it and the seat belt came loose. I jumped out the window and started running. Five seconds later it sounded like a bomb (with car engulfed in flames).’
“He told me, ‘Dad, I don’t care about belongings. I don’t care about the NBA practice jerseys I got (that burned). Dad I’m alive and I swear I’m not supposed to be here. I knew I was dead,’’’ Jeffrey related.
“To think they said five seconds after he climbed out of a window the car exploded … I could have gotten that call, ‘Mr. Greene can you and your family get to New York now?’ Knowing I’d have lost a kid for life. I started crying just thinking about it.”
ESPN's Chad Ford recently ranked Brannen #100 on his NBA Draft big board so it's highly unlikely he'll be selected in the draft but at this moment in time he's probably just happy to be alive and well.
If you're a college hoops fan you probably best remember the 6'7 guard for this dunk that he threw down as time expired in a blowout victory over in-state rival, Kansas State.
[Via]
