Jesse D. Garrabrant via Getty Images Nav Bhatia attends a game between the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers on May 2, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

For the Toronto Raptors, this week has been all about turning grim games into winning outcomes. And one Raptors superfan is savouring both his team’s sweet victory Saturday in the Eastern Conference final, and his own positive ending from a racist encounter with a Milwaukee Bucks fan. Nav Bhatia was the target of a racist tweet sent Tuesday by a now-deleted account, @KJB30. The tweet was put on blast by MP Raj Grewal, who called on Twitter to deal with the issue.

Hey @Twitter this tweet by @KJB30 is racist and should be removed. There is no place for this type of language in the @NBA or on Twitter. Also, I don’t know you @KJB30 but I welcome you to come to Toronto and meet @superfan_nav he’s one of the nicest guys in the game #Cdnpolipic.twitter.com/MnMroEFjyY — Raj Grewal (@RajLiberal) May 22, 2019

“Hey @Twitter, this tweet by @KJB30 is racist and should be removed,” Grewal wrote. “There is no place for this type of language in the @NBA or on Twitter.” The federal politician then extended a compassionate offer to the offender: “Also, I don’t know you @KJB30 but I welcome you to come to Toronto and meet @superfan_nav he’s one of the nicest guys in the game.” Apparently, Milwaukee fans wanted Bhatia to know the tweet didn’t speak for them, because on Friday, Bhatia tweeted a message of gratitude following the Raptors-Bucks game in Milwaukee:

Thank you to all the @Bucks fans who came up to me and apologized for words someone tweeted even though you didnt have to. I know we are in a heated series but i want everyone to know regardless of what one person has said. Milwaukee and its fans are incredible! — Nav Bhatia Superfan (@superfan_nav) May 24, 2019

“Thank you to all the @Bucks fans who came up to me and apologized for words someone tweeted even though you didnt have to,” he tweeted. “I know we are in a heated series, but i want everyone to know, regardless of what one person has said. Milwaukee and its fans are incredible!”

Welcome to Milwaukee @superfan_nav!



Great to have you @FiservForum for @bucks vs Raptors and great to meet you. pic.twitter.com/dRWd9z36SK — Paul Henning (@brewcitypaul) May 23, 2019

Bucks fans flocked to the post to share their love:

You’re truly a class act, Nav!! Keep doing what you do, you’re an incredible representative and role model for all NBA fans! — Blake 😈 (@BatSpy7) May 24, 2019

Literally one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I’m sorry about that...absolutely reprehensible. — Alex Lasry (@AlexanderLasry) May 23, 2019

Kindness is always a better look than hatred. You're more than welcome at the @FiservForum and in #milwaukee any time. Class act...even if your NBA allegiance is misguided ;) #FearTheDeer — Barry Rothschild (@barryrothschild) May 24, 2019

The story might have ended there. But, Bhatia told HuffPost Canada the man behind the tweet got in touch to apologize. “I felt really sorry, and I felt like he hadn’t seen the world at all,” said Bhatia, about first seeing the tweet. “He was a very simple guy who had never been out of Milwaukee.” Bhatia said he was impressed the man had the “guts” to reach out and apologize to him, and that the two managed to work things out through a phone conversation. “... A negative thing has changed into a positive thing,” Bhatia said. So much so that the two have promised to make dinner plans if Bhatia ever heads down to Milwaukee. ‘When somebody goes low, we go high’ Bhatia is practically a legend in the Toronto sports community. He hasn’t missed a Raptors home game since the team started playing in 1995, and often travels to away games to cheer Toronto on too. Throughout his nearly 25 years of cheering on the Raptors, he’s accumulated quite a fanbase of his own. Bhatia said he wasn’t surprised with the outpouring of support from Raptors and Bucks fans when he responded to the tweet. “We are Canadians. We know when somebody goes low, we go high.”

According to his website, his goal is to “unite people of all ages and backgrounds through the game of basketball.” He also has a non-profit foundation that raises money to build basketball courts and camps for kids in Canada and around the world. Bhatia had a “humbling” start in Canada. Coming over from India with a mechanical engineering degree, his first job in the country was as a landscaper. He then got his break working at a car dealership. “The very first day that I started there, I was called the same names this guy put on Twitter,” he said. Besides basketball, which he calls “the best game on this planet,” Bhatia said he’s learned to deal with discrimination through conversation. “People were angry, and I told them not to be,” he said. “Make sure to keep communication open and convert it into a different thought process — that’s what we did.”

I'll bring the towel and @champagnepapi will bring the noise.



Everyone else we expect you to be louder than ever.



History tonight.#godsplan#globalambassador#communityambassadorpic.twitter.com/YAC6JegY0Y — Nav Bhatia Superfan (@superfan_nav) May 25, 2019