San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama was forced out of Tuesday night’s game following a scary fall.
The freshly-crowned Defensive Player of the Year tumbled face-first to the court during the second quarter of the Spurs’ Game 2 clash against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The incident came as the 7-foot-4 phenom was fouled by Jrue Holiday after he spun around the Trail Blazers point guard in the paint.
He was not able to brace himself on the fall and slammed forward, smacking his head, chin first, on the court. He failed to immediately get back to his feet, lying on the floor in evident pain.
The Frenchman remained on the court for about 30 seconds before rising to a seated position for about a minute and speaking to teammate Stephon Castle.
When he did eventually attempt to get up, Wembanyama was clearly dazed, leading him to have to sit back down.
San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama smacked his head on the court
The Frenchman was forced to exit the game and was placed in concussion protocol
Wembanyama had five points, four rebounds, one blocked shot and one assist in 12 minutes
The Spurs ultimately called a timeout and Wembanyama was eventually able to get up and exit the court under his own power before heading to the locker room to be evaluated.
It was later announced that he had been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol and would not return to the game.
Wembanyama was being evaluated for a concussion and a determination could be made in the next 24 hours, a Spurs official said.
Wembanyama had five points, four rebounds, one blocked shot and one assist in 12 minutes. Veteran Luke Kornet replaced Wembanyama and started the second half at center.
Any extended absence by Wembanyama would be a massive blow to San Antonio, which finished with the league´s second-best record behind the versatile 7-foot-4 center from France.
Under league guidelines, a player in the concussion protocol must have at least 48 hours of inactivity and recovery and then hit several benchmarks without symptoms before being cleared to play.
A player must undergo neurological testing and receive a final clearance from a team doctor in consultation with the league’s concussion protocol director.
His absence came as a blow on Tuesday night as the Spurs slumped to a 106-103 defeat, unable to fend off a late rally from Portland.
The second-seeded Spurs initially looked like they could win without Wemby, building a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter before their offense stagnated.
But Portland held San Antonio without a field goal for the final 3:37 as they closed the game on an 11-2 run. Robert Williams III converted an alley-oop dunk with 12 seconds left for a 104-101 lead after Deni Avdija muscled through the paint and fed him the ball.
Holiday had 16 points and nine assists, Avdija scored 14 and Williams finished with 11.
Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 18 points, De´Aaron Fox scored 17 and Devin Vassell had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
