Boomers star Dante Exum was forced to leave the arena on crutches after he was body slammed to the court during a wild brawl which has sparked calls for “prison” for the perpetrator.
During the final minutes of Partizan Belgrade’s 95-80 win over Real Madrid in the EuroLeague playoff, which had to be called off, a foul by Madrid captain Sergio Llull on Exum’s Partizan teammate Kevin Punter ignited an all-in brawl.
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The 27-year-old, Exum, whose stint in the NBA as the No.5 pick was dogged by injury, stepped in to help his teammate and ultimately paid the price.
Former Boston Celtic Guerschon Yabusele rushed into the developing brawl and flung the Aussie into the hardwood, using every bit of his 40kg advantage. It’s understood Exum had to be helped off the court by teammates and suffered a broken toe, leaving the stadium on crutches.
“It is a serious physical injury,” club medico Moma Jakovljevic told Mozzart Sport.
“The tendon in his toe has broken. His finger was injured and his mouth was bloody from a tooth injury.
“The way Jabusele threw him with a judo move, that’s for prison, for life suspension.
“As Jabusele threw him, Exum could have broken his spine, seriously injured his head and ended his career.
“This was terrible. I have never seen this in my life”.
The nasty incident is expected to draw fines and suspensions and sets up two tension filled games in Serbia.
“After what we have experienced today, we have to say sorry to our fans, to every basketball fan,” Madrid’s Rudy Fernandez said.
“We can’t watch this kind of incident, but as players we have emotions and we make mistakes. Today was one of these days.
“The tension has to stop here and we will have to play just a game of basketball for the fans to enjoy the EuroLeague.”
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