You do not see the same types of injuries during a basketball game that you would watching football. It is sad, but seeing players lie motionless after a big hit or get carted off the field has become almost routine during football games. In basketball, there are not any pads, so if someone takes a blow to the head and gets knocked unconscious, it’s a scary moment.
Charlotte Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist collided with teammate Jeffrey Taylor and took a pretty big shot to the back of the head during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against the Houston Rockets. He had to be carted off on a stretcher and spent the night in a Houston area hospital.
Kidd-Gilchrist suffered a concussion but the X-rays and CT scan came back negative, so there were not any severe head or neck injuries. He was reportedly moving all his extremities and talking fine even before leaving the arena.
It looks like Kidd-Gilchrist will be fine, but he is still going to miss a few games for the Bobcats. He did not make the trip with the team to Miami for Monday night’s game against the Heat and he will not be cleared to return to action until he passes the requirements of the NBA’s new concussion protocol.
The Bobcats have a pretty condensed schedule going forward. They have the last two games of their current road trip Monday and Wednesday, and then they play four games in six nights before the All-Star break. With all the travelling and the frequency of games, I would not be surprised if we did not see Kidd-Gilchrist back in action until after the break.
The Bobcats do not have much to play for (aside from avoiding the title of “NBA’s worst team”), so there is no sense in rushing back this year’s second overall pick and risking further injury.
Image: MSN.com
