Jared McCain, the 76ers’ 16th overall pick in this year’s draft, was taken to the hospital after he landed hard on his back while trying to go up for a rebound in a Wednesday night preseason game.
The scary moment occurred in the closing minutes of the game against the Nets when McCain collided with a Brooklyn defender and fell backward, seemingly hitting his head and falling aggressively on his backside.
Officials quickly realized what had happened and paused the game so that Philadelphia trainers could examine McCain, who was down on the floor in pain for several minutes at Wells Fargo Center.
McCain eventually got on his feet and was ushered off the court.
He went to a local hospital in the Dallas area to be checked for a concussion.
“It was rough,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse told reporters. “He’s going to the hospital to get checked out. Obviously, he was having trouble breathing there, maybe got the wind knocked out of him, not sure what was going on there, but never quite seen one like that before, so let’s hope he’s OK and see what the report is from the hospital.”
“He’s fine,” Kelly Oubre Jr said, per Sixerswire. “It was very scary. He caught himself luckily. He didn’t fall flat on his back. He’s gonna feel it tomorrow. That’s kinda what we were telling him. He’s just gotta kinda take it easy and make sure he’s 100 percent for opening night.”
McCain has been having a strong training camp and has earned praise from members of the organization, including Sixers superstar Joel Embiid.
“Probably our best player has been Jared McCain, which is pretty good,” Embiid said earlier this month. “He competes. He is tough, competes,[is] a shot-maker. He has been shooting the ball extremely well; great energy.”
McCain had nine points and seven rebounds in the 23 minutes before the injury.