Broken spine fears after Aussie Dante Exum bodyslammed in wild basketball brawl

Australia’s Dante Exum was body slammed to the ground in a shockingly violent on-court attack with suggestions his opponent should be jailed.

Australian Olympic bronze medallist Dante Exum has been body slammed to the court in a shocking incident that had a club medico fearing a broken spine after his side’s EuroLeague playoff clash descended into chaos.

Exum’s Partizan Belgrade led Real Madrid 95-80 with less than two minutes to play in the game when a cynical foul by Madrid captain Sergio Llull on Partizan’s Kevin Punter ignited an all-in brawl.

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The 27-year-old Aussie star threw his arms up in protest as Llull and Punter got physical before stepping in to defend his teammate.

Former Boston Celtic Guerschon Yabusele – who has 40kg on Exum – barged into the fracas and violently drove the Aussie into the hardwood.

Exum had to be helped from the floor, flanked by two teammates as he hopped down the race, and was later seen leaving the stadium on crutches.

Guerschon Yabusele slamming down Dante Exum 😳 pic.twitter.com/iEvAtsGZgk

— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) April 27, 2023

“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”.

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However Australia’s FIBA World Cup selectors can breathe a sigh of relief with news Exum has reportedly been cleared of serious injury after he was violently body slammed to the court.

An independent disciplinary judge dished out a series of suspensions emanating from the melee, overnight Thursday, between Real Madrid and Partizan Belgrade, with Exum’s attacker former NBA forward Guerschon Yabusele banned for five games.

Scans on Saturday allayed a club medico’s initial fears Exum had a ruptured tendon in his second toe, leaving the door open for a potential game-three appearance and providing a huge boost to his World Cup hopes.

Telegraf reports the 27-year-old Aussie guard’s lip was cut and teeth chipped but scans revealed no fractures in his toes.

The 198cm guard is a key cog in Australia coach Brian Goorjian’s squad for August’s World Cup.

Goorjian said he was shocked to see the violent attack on Exum.

“It (the body slam) was horrible,” Goorjian said.

“I hope his injury isn’t serious.

“All the Boomers support Dante. He is a major piece for our World Cup campaign.”

Both clubs were slapped with 50,000 Euro fines and three other players were suspended for their roles in the fight, which forced referees to cancel the game with a little under two minutes to play and Partizan leading by 15.

Dante Exum sends a message to Partizan fans 🙏 #EuroLeaguepic.twitter.com/cgqWp4yhmT

— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) April 28, 2023

Dante Exum leaving Wizink Center with crutches #EuroLeaguepic.twitter.com/898T9qzvIv

— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) April 27, 2023

“Wowwww I know when they go to Serbia for game 3&4 those Real Madrid players better not leave the hotel,” Errick McCollum, brother of NBA star CJ, wrote on Twitter.

“I pray Real Madrid enters Serbia with the national guard. Entering Partizan’s arena for games 3 and 4 with them fans after that … I pray for y’all,” Dylan Ennis, brother of former NBA player Tyler, wrote.

Contrite Madrid captain Rudy Fernandez expressed regret over the incident, post game.

“After what we have experienced today, we have to say sorry to our fans, to every basketball fan,” 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.”