The NBA May Face Bigger Concussion Issue Than it Would Care to Admit

We all know basketball can be physical, and that when every player can jump over the moon, sometimes there will be scary falls. But I can’t be the only person surprised at the alarming number of concussions we’re seeing in this game of shiftless prima donnas. And according to an illuminating article in The Sacramento Bee, we may not even know the half:↵↵⇥Dr. David Hovda, the director of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center, noted what is at least a temporary increase and said, “As pro athletes become quicker, faster and stronger, I am not surprised. I am not surprised that there have been a number of concussions in the National Basketball Association.”↵⇥
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↵⇥Hovda added, “When I hear that a player has had four of them or five or six, I honestly always double that number. They have usually also had some before or in practice or in pickup games.”↵↵A lot in there about Gerald Wallace, patron saint of NBA concussions, and how teams have had to consult NFL medical personnel to figure out what to do going forward. You also get the sense that there’s only so much anyone can do to prevent this kind of injury, since no one’s wearing helmets, and a warrior like Wallace isn’t about to dial down the intensity. ↵
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↵Then you get the following wisdom from Del Harris, which I guess is the kind of quote you give when you’ve been in the league for 79 years: “A lot of times, injuries tend to run sort of in cycles for some reason.” Oh, and “league officials,” whose “momentary cycle” tells us at once that this is nothing new and to not bother looking back.↵