Joel Embiid is a gigantic human being, listed at 7’0, 250 pounds. While we get somewhat accustomed to seeing giants in the NBA, for those sitting courtside, there’s always a bit of danger that they may find their regular sized self involved in physical contact with an NBA sized player.
There’s no greater status symbol in sports fandom than courtside seats to an NBA game, with feet on the hardwood, so close to the action you could, should you choose, reach out and touch a player. However, sometimes sitting courtside is a hazard and one must always have their head on a swivel if a loose ball comes their way.
Golden Globe winning actress Regina King learned that in a terrifying way on Wednesday night as the Sixers visited the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. King found herself in the way of a charging Embiid, chasing a loose ball, and was lucky to avoid getting trucked thanks to the athletic ability of Embiid — although some dud in the second row at the scorer’s table was not as lucky.
https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1095872459218268161
King thanked Embiid’s athletic ability for not killing her in a light-hearted tweet, but it would have certainly been painful if he’d run through her.
Yoooo. Thank you God and @JoelEmbiid for your athletic abilities. Crisis averted 🙏🏾 https://t.co/LLTtzECuV4
— Regina King (@ReginaKing) February 14, 2019
Embiid also had a laugh about it after, saying he’s glad he could save her life while apologizing to the poor gentleman that took a kick to the chest, via ESPN.
“It’s good that I saved her life, I guess, but someone else had to, like, take that,” Embiid said, referring to the statistician. “I’m sorry about that.”
Sitting courtside is a dream for every NBA fan, but if you ever find yourself in that blessed position, you better hope the ball doesn’t actually come your way.
