Imagine the sheer terror of seeing 7-foot, 18-stone behemoth Joel Embiid leap feet first towards you.
That was the scenario presented to Madison Square Garden statistician Dave Fried as the enormous Philadelphia 76ers star attempted to retrieve the ball before it went out of play.
Embiid failed to stop his momentum, lobbing the ball back over his head, hurdling Oscar-nominated actress Regina King and crashing into the helpless Fried who was sat behind his desk.
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Joel Embiid chased after a ball heading out of play but his momentum took him into the crowd
The 7-foot tall Philadelphia star could not prevent himself clattering into helpless Dave Fried
There were gasps from the crowd as it slowly became apparent that Embiid was moving at a rate of knots and would not be able to stop himself.
And after the spectators in the front row seats lifted their hands up in a panicked realisation that the Cameroonian was heading their way, it was Fried who was the unfortunate recipient of Embiid’s size 17 shoes.
King thanked her lucky stars and later tweeted: ‘Yoooo. Thank you God and Joel Embiid for your athletic abilities. Crisis averted.’
Fortunately, Fried was not injured and warmly accepted an apology from the NBA star after the game.
Embiid said: ‘First of all I shouldn’t have done that. This is a regular season game and at that point I think we were up by 15 so I shouldn’t have done that.
‘Maybe next time I do that I shouldn’t try to land with my feet first, I’m so sorry.’
Fried copped Embiid’s size 17 feet in the ribs but fortunately came away unscathed
The gigantic centre landed feet first and later said he regretted doing so in an interview
Fried’s arm can been seen in held up in panic to protect himself but Embiid clattered him
Fried replied: ‘It’s alright, I’m okay, its alright. As soon as I saw him coming I thought ‘oh no’, you could just see what was happening.
‘There was nothing I could do and it just for a second. He made sure to miss Regina King, which was pretty good on his part but I’m okay.’
Hollywood star King cowered as Embiid soared over her head, no doubt relieved she will be able to take to the Oscars’ red carpet in tact.
King has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ and is also known for other work including Jerry Maguire and Daddy Day Care. She was joined in the crowd by fellow Hollywood star Tracy Morgan of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock fame.
Embiid apologised for his clumsiness and said he regretted the decision to leap
Embiid is a man mountain, even for NBA standards. He was drafted as the third pick in the draft back in 2014 and has become one of the sport’s biggest stars.
The 24-year-old was born in Cameroon and started to play basketball at the age of 15. He was discovered by a scout and moved to the US a year later. Embiid became a star in college but his early seasons in the NBA were plagued by injury.
JOEL EMBIID FACTFILE:
Height: 7ft (2.13m)
Weight: 113kg (250lbs)
Foot size: 17
Nationality: Cameroonian
But he’s put those issues behind him, becoming an all-star talent and signing a massive five-year, $148-million deal with the 76ers two years ago.
The incident on Wednesday night overshadowed the game itself, which finished 126-111 to the 76ers, handing the New York Knicks their 18th straight defeat.
To go with his flying leap, the All-star centre had 26 points and 14 rebounds in total.
But heroics aside, Philadelphia coach Brett Brown was another to weigh in on the game’s major talking point.
‘Just like I think our owners and our fans back home were thinking,’ he said. ‘You respect his aggression, and his passion, but you don’t want that. I say that out of love and care. It’s stuff you hope to avoid.’
‘I didn’t see Fried but I know he’s going to feel it tomorrow…’
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