Dante Exum body-slammed by rival in 'disgraceful' basketball chaos

Aussie basketball star Dante Exum was left needing crutches after finding himself at the centre of a wild brawl during a Euroleague playoff game in Spain. The former NBA star has been in excellent form for Serbia's Partizan this season but was wrapped up chaotic scenes against Real Madrid in the Spanish capital.

The ill-tempered game exploded late on with With Partizan leading 95-80 with less than two minutes to play. Real Madrid’s Sergio Llull bumped Partizan’s Kevin Punter during a defensive play that sparked an ugly chain of events which resulted in Exum being body-slammed onto the court.

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Punter took exception to the bump and confronted his Real Madrid rival before all hell broke loose on the court. Players ran in from all directions to get involved in the wild melee, with Madrid’s Guerschon Yabusele grabbing hold of Exum.

The former Boston Celtics star appeared to have hold of Exum in a form of choke hold from behind, before he violently flung the Aussie onto the floor. Exum hit the court hard, but was able to get back to his feet as officials separated players from both teams.

Several punches were thrown in the ugly scuffle, with officials eventually forced to call a premature end to the game, with 1 minute and 40 seconds still left on the clock. EuroLeague's website indicated victory was awarded to Partizan Belgrade, leaving the Serbian side 2-0 up in the playoff series.

Dante Exum incident stuns basketball fans

Exum, who battled numerous injuries during his seven years in the NBA, was later seen leaving the arena on crutches and in obvious pain. The crazy scenes left the basketball world in disbelief, with Yabusele's body-slam on Exum described as a "dog act" by some on social media.

Exum was famously taken by the Utah Jazz as the fifth pick in the 2014 NBA draft. The Aussie star played in Utah until getting traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019 for Jordan Clarkson. The 27-year-old featured in a training camp with the Houston Rockets in 2021 but was ultimately cut from the squad.

The former NBA star then moved to Europe, where he played one season for FC Barcelona before making the move to Partizan for this season. Exum has averaged 13.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds in Euroleague games this season, with Partizan's third game of the best-of-five series against Real Madrid scheduled to take place on Tuesday in Belgrade.

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