The Loop

Golden Globe winner Regina King narrowly avoids being karate-kicked into oblivion by Joel Embiid

February 14, 2019

As exciting as sitting court side at a NBA game looks, it also seems a bit dangerous. One minute you're enjoying the up close and personal action and the next minute there is a 7-foot, 250-pound giant barreling into you as he tries to save the ball. Just ask Jason Day's wife Ellie, who found herself in this exact situation a few years ago when LeBron James crashed into her in Cleveland and she ended up leaving the arena on a stretcher.

The same thing nearly happened to actress Regina King on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, where the dumpster fire of a New York Knicks team faced off with the Philadelphia 76ers. King, who just won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk, was minding her own business in celebrity row when Sixers center Joel Embiid, who stands at 7 feet and weighs 249 pounds, came rushing toward her. Luckily for King, Embiid reacted quickly and leapt over her, narrowly avoiding karate-kicking her into another dimension:

King was extremely thankful she didn't have to leave the game in an ambulance, and sent out a tweet praising Embiid's athleticism afterwards:

Crisis averted is putting it lightly. Look at the freaking size of Embiid compared to her:

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The guy is ENORMOUS, and one MSG Network statistician found that out the hard way. As lucky as King was, that's how unlucky this dude was:

Shoutout to that guy for popping back up continuing his statistician-ing. He took a bullet for King, and he should be praised accordingly. That's Rod Tidwell's wife, and we must protect her at all costs. Embiid agrees.

"It's good that I saved her life, I guess, but someone else had to, like, take that," Embiid said to ESPN.com. "I'm sorry about that."