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Diving For A Loose Ball, LeBron James Sends Fan To Hospital

LeBron James a moment before he crashed into Ellie Day while in pursuit of a loose ball during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
David Maxwell
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Getty Images
LeBron James a moment before he crashed into Ellie Day while in pursuit of a loose ball during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Thursday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James crashed into Ellie Day, the wife of PGA golfer Jason Day, as he dove to save a ball from going out of bounds on the sideline.

Ellie Day left the court on a stretcher with her neck in a brace and was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for concussion-like symptoms, according to Jason's Day's agent. She was released Friday morning.

The Days were sitting courtside when James' momentum carried him into the row of chairs. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound James fell on top of Day, knocking her backward onto the ground. Play was stopped with a little over three minutes left in the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder while she was attended to.

Day, who gave birth to the couple's second child in November, was quoted as saying, "He was just doing his job. Go Cavs."

James said that incidents like this are rare and that he hoped Day was recovering, according to ESPN.

"It wasn't anything out of the usual besides the injury. But to me, obviously her health is very important, and hopefully she's doing well. The guys told us she's doing great now. So, but you know, I was going for a loose ball. Just trying to keep the possession going, and I hate that that was the end result of it."

James also tweeted an apology after the game:

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The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.