Concerns for Exum After Ugly Brawl

Australian basketball star Dante Exum limped off the court and left the stadium in crutches with a suspected ruptured toe after an ugly brawl broke out between his Partizan team and Real Madrid.

With just 1:40 left in the Euroleague game, a foul committed by Madrid’s Sergio Llull ignited an all-in brawl, where former Boston Celtic Guerschon Yabusele grabbed Exum across the neck and slammed him down in an ugly incident.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HUGE BRAWL just went down in Wizink Center between Partizan and Real Madrid players ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/wkpzyIQTcM">pic.twitter.com/wkpzyIQTcM</a></p>&mdash; BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketNews_com/status/1651690275016699908?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Exum was helped off the court by trainers and teammates, while he left the Wizink Center on crutches.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After the brawl on the court, Dante Exum leaves the court only with the help of his teammates and medical staff ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/QgLkYkvCX6">pic.twitter.com/QgLkYkvCX6</a></p>&mdash; BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketNews_com/status/1651697064508551168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dante Exum leaving Wizink Center with crutches <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/898T9qzvIv">pic.twitter.com/898T9qzvIv</a></p>&mdash; BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketNews_com/status/1651706213430878208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Partizan's team doctor, Moma Jakovljevic, provided an update on Exum after the game.

“The tendon in his second toe has ruptured. Serious injury. He will have to go to Belgrade on crutches, so we can film him there. His upper lip was also injured," he said via Telegraf.

Jakovljevic added he was disgusted by the incident. 

“The way Yabusele threw him with a judo move, that’s for prison, for life suspension. As Yabusele 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," he said via Mozzart Sport.

Partizan leads the best-of-five game series against Madrid 2-0, with the winner booking their ticket to the Final Four.

Exum, who is an owner of the South East Melbourne Phoenix, has had a strong season, averaging 13.2 points in Euroleague play, and 11.2 points and 3.7 assists in the ABA League.