Fortunately, this did not appear to be as bad as it looked at the time.
Boston’s Kemba Walker — one of the guys at the heart of the Celtics’ fast start to the season — was strapped to a backboard, with a neck brace on, and stretchered off the court in Denver Friday night after a collision with teammate Semi Ojeleye.
He was taken to a local hospital with concussion-like symptoms. It appears he escaped a serious neck or other injuries and has been released from the hospital already and rejoined the team.
#NEBHInjuryReport Brad Stevens says all of the scans and tests on Kemba Walker came back with positive results.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 23, 2019
#NEBHInjuryReport Following testing at a Denver hospital, Kemba Walker has been released to rejoin the team for its return to Boston. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow and further updates will be provided as appropriate.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 23, 2019
Here is a video of the play where it happened.
Kemba Walker was taken off the court in a stretcher after this play pic.twitter.com/i1jcJeoDwB
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 23, 2019
Kemba Walker being taken out of the arena on a stretcher pic.twitter.com/UQX5qkwUFu
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 23, 2019
A moment of prayer for Kemba 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/NdlENSxriU
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 23, 2019
That is a football-style, head-down collision (and this injury is one reason that sport bans those hits). There is no official report yet on the injury.
Our thoughts are with Walker, who is playing again at an All-NBA level this season averaging 22.9 points per game.