Memphis Grizzlies beginning guard Jaylen Wells was taken by medical personnel from the courtroom on a stretcher on Tuesday after the rookie made a fast-break dunk and landed exhausting on his head from a midair collision with Charlotte’s KJ Simpson.
Wells was taken to the hospital by ambulance, however “he is doing OK, he has feeling, he is shifting round,” in keeping with Hornets play-by-play announcer Eric Collins. Wells’ father mentioned his son was “awake and alert” and wished to know the rating of the sport earlier than getting X-rays and a CT scan.
Wells suffered a damaged proper wrist, his agent instructed ESPN, seemingly ending the rookie’s season proper earlier than the Grizzlies go into the playoffs.
Wells caught an outlet move from Ja Morant and went as much as the rim, when Simpson inadvertently undercut him from behind after attempting to catch as much as the play. The contact triggered Wells to lose his stability whereas within the air and land awkwardly on his aspect as his head slammed towards the courtroom close to the baseline.
He was down for eight minutes earlier than being lifted onto the stretcher together with his head strapped in to limit movement.
Wells had motion in all of his extremities, interim coach Tuomas Iisalo later mentioned.
“It places the whole lot into perspective seeing that scenario and to see Jaylen there,” Iisalo mentioned. “He’s an extremely robust child and had an ideal season.”
The sport was delayed a complete of 23 minutes, together with warmup time for each groups. Officers referred to as a Flagrant 2 foul on Simpson after a replay overview for pointless contact, which comes with an automated ejection. Simpson instantly bent all the way down to test on Wells after their collision and was visibly distraught whereas Wells was being tended to within the silent enviornment.
After the sport, referee Karl Lane defined why the officers determined to improve the foul on Simpson.
“After the overview, we felt that it was pointless and in depth, and a reckless play by the defender to a participant who’s in a weak place with a excessive potential for harm, which he did have a excessive potential for harm,” Lane mentioned. “We felt that was sufficient for a Flagrant 2.”
A 2024 second-round draft select of Washington State, Wells has but to overlook a recreation for Memphis whereas beginning 74 of 79 video games. The 6-foot-7 Wells entered Tuesday’s recreation with averages of 10.5 factors, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per recreation.
The Grizzlies beat the Hornets 124-100 to maneuver right into a tie for fourth place within the crowded Western Convention race, however they may nonetheless drop as little as eighth.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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