The wife of the Australian golfer Jason Day was taken away in a neck brace on a stretcher after being accidentally crunched by Cleveland superstar LeBron James while watching an NBA match.
Jason and Ellie Day had courtside seats at Quicken Loans Arena for the game between Cleveland and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The four-time NBA MVP was chasing a loose ball when he tumbled towards the seats, and Ellie Day bore the full impact of James’s 113kg frame.
James said in a post-match interview shown on ESPN: “Obviously her health is very important and hopefully she’s doing well. The guys told us she’s doing great now. Going for a loose ball I was just trying to keep the possession going and I hate that that was the end result of it.”
Ellie Day was taken to a local hospital for treatment, as reported by cleveland.com and the ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst, while James was also quoted as saying: “She squeezed my hand, said she was fine. I think she was just a little weary.”
James scored 33 points for Cleveland in their 104-100 win, which halted Oklahoma’s six-game winning run.
The Cavs coach David Blatt, who spent years coaching in Europe, has long been worried about courtside fan safety. “It’s always concerned me, the sideline seats,” he said. “Always concerned me, because things like that, when you’re talking about players of this speed and physicality and effort level, it’s not a simple thing.
“The powers that be are the ones that really need to decide how to deal with that. He [James] made an honest attempt at the basketball, that’s all, obviously. We all hope she’s OK.”
The league has recently taken steps to improve safety, including cutting the number of photographers allowed to sit along the baselines to reduce the risk of contact with players.
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