LeBron James Careens Into Seats; Jason Day's Wife Stretchered Off

— -- CLEVELAND -- LeBron James tumbled into the wife of star PGA Tour golfer Jason Day while chasing a loose ball Thursday night, causing her to be taken from the floor by stretcher and to a local hospital.

James, who is listed at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, crashed into Ellie Day, knocking her chair over and landing on her as he fell out of bounds with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter of the  Cleveland Cavaliers' 104-100 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Day was said to be OK but was held in the hospital overnight for observation. She was down for several minutes while she received medical attention, which included having a brace placed around her neck and head.

The game was halted, and James returned to the scene to check on Day. He later said she had squeezed his hand and that he had been told she was "doing great."

Day was alert and talking as her husband accompanied her to an ambulance before she was transported to MetroHealth Medical Center. 

"It wasn't anything out of the usual besides the injury," James said. "But to me, obviously her health is very important, and hopefully she's doing well. The guys told us she's doing great now. So, but you know, I was going for a loose ball. Just trying to keep the possession going, and I hate that that was the end result of it."

Ellie Day gave birth to the couple's second child last month.

The Days were sitting in a section of seats at Quickens Loans Arena in the first row next to the Thunder bench. Known as the "Nicholson seats," after the position Jack Nicholson often sits at  Los Angeles Lakers games, the seats are several feet below the playing surface. James fell down on to Day, who was seated next to her husband, and knocked over her seat and landed on her.

James hit his head as he fell into the aisle behind the row of seats.

The Days have a home in Westerville, Ohio, outside of Columbus.

Jason Day, 28, who won the PGA Championship in August, has attended several Cavs games recently and had taken part in a promotion during a timeout shortly before the incident. As fans cheered, the Australian chipped foam basketballs into the crowd.

The incident didn't sway James' feelings on the proximity of the seats.

"I think it's a great experience for our fans," James said. "I mean, that doesn't happen much. It's unfortunate it happened tonight, but that doesn't happen much. Our fans are why our game is so great. Sitting courtside, it's all part of the game. It's pretty cool. If I was a fan, which I am a fan of the game, but, I would love to sit courtside and watch games."

Cavs coach David Blatt said he was unaware of the severity of the incident. He has long been nervous about the safety of fans sitting so close to the action.

"Honestly, the only thing I saw was LeBron diving for the ball to save the ball," Blatt said. "I kind of got blocked and just saw a sea of bodies. We all hope that she's OK. It's always concerned me, the sideline seats. Always concerned me, because things like that, when you're talking about players of this speed and physicality and effort level, it's not a simple thing.

"The powers that be are the ones that really need to decide how to deal with that. He made an honest attempt at the basketball, that's all, obviously. We all hope she's OK."

James has had dozens of run-ins and close-calls with fans sitting courtside in his career. Last May during the conference finals in Atlanta, he stopped himself from running into a pregnant woman courtside. He also dodged a pregnant woman in another incident several years ago.

The Cavs snapped the Thunder's six-game winning streak with the win. James had 33 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.