The Scariest Part Of A Concussion Is The Uncertainty

With 8:57 left in the second quarter of what had been a pretty entertaining Game 2 between the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers, Victor Wembanyama lost his footing while driving on Jrue Holiday, slipped, fell, and slammed his face into the hardwood. He left the game, and the team announced that he had a concussion. There's no way to tell when (or whether) Wembanyama will return, and what sort of player he'll be like when he does. That's how concussion recovery works: It is painful and disorienting, and you just have to wait around until something changes, hopefully but not always for the better. The video is difficult to watch. Wembanyama shot-fakes his way into good position against Jrue Holiday, crosses over between his legs, then spins over his right shoulder. Holiday both pulls the chair on Wembanyama and jerks his head back, getting his body all the way out of Wemby's path. Wembanyama's momentum can't resolve itself; his right foot is pointing the wrong way as he continues to both spin and move forward, barely pitching the ball out to the right corner before he makes impact with the right side of his face. His eyes are closed when his body comes to a halt. Wembyama stays down, covering his face with his hand and blinking in pain. He's able to roll around a little bit before sitting up, though not without being visibly dazed. After a few minutes of "WEMBY" chants from the home crowd, he runs down the tunnel with Spurs head athletic trainer Will Sevening. Within 20 minutes of the fall, the Spurs announced that Wembanyama was in concussion protocol; shortly after the game, they announced that he had been diagnosed with a concussion. As for the game, the Spurs lost, 106-103. They held a 14-point lead with 8:33 left, only to go cold right as Holiday stepped up and put in a heroic performance down the stretch. The Blazers didn't even need their best player, Deni Avdija, to have another big night, as Scoot Henderson had one of the best games of his career, Toumani Camara caused tons of problems on defense, and Robert Williams III dominated Luke Kornet when it mattered. The Spurs' offensive process looked gummed up, the basketball equivalent of trying to talk through a mouthful of peanut butter.