Perhaps taking a queue from the NFL and their issues with players dealing with head injuries, but the NBA has announced they have put in place a concussion policy that will determine when players return from head injuries.
If a player is diagnosed with a concussion, he will have to complete a series of steps to confirm that he’s healthy enough for competition. Once he is free of symptoms, the player must make it through increasing stages of exertion — from a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to non-contact team drills — while ensuring the symptoms don’t return after each one. Then the neurologist hired to lead the NBA’s concussion program needs to be consulted before the player is cleared.
The process will likely take at least several days, if not weeks.
Before the opening of preseason games, each player will undergo baseline testing, which aids in the diagnosis of potential concussions. Players and coaches will take part in annual training and will have to sign acknowledgment forms that they understand the importance of reporting symptoms.
Unlike the NFL, NHL and MLB (leagues which have concussion policies) the NBA and their players don’t go head-to-head literally whether it be a tackle, a hip-check into the glass on the ice or barreling head-first to home plate but NBA players are prone to drive to the lane at full-speed with their heads down, dive on the court to scramble for loose balls, or hit the court hard off drives if they are undercut or especially if Los Angeles Lakers’ Andrew Bynum is on the loose. Ask J.J. Barea.
Perhaps the clearest example of NBA players getting their heads rattled had to be last season when Chris Paul had to be carried off the court in a games against the Cavaliers after a collision with Ramon Sessions.
