It was one of those moments that seemed to never end.
With the air seemingly sucked out of the arena in scenes reminiscent of Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward’s catastrophic ankle injury, Celtics point guard Kemba Walker lie motionless, crumpled on the parquet after colliding head-first into teammate Semi Ojeleye’s chest in Friday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.
“I just remember asking God,” Ojeleye said (via MassLive’s Tom Westerholm) of the collision that felled the UConn product as he dove for a loose ball, pausing to collect himself.
Kemba Walker is currently being placed on a stretcher after running head first into Semi Ojeleye. I'm going to cry.
— Amanda_Pflugrad (@Amanda_Pflugrad) November 23, 2019
“I just asked that it wasn’t as bad as it looked,” he continued. “I didn’t really know what was going on. He wasn’t really moving. So everybody’s kind of wondering, just asked that he’d get back as soon as possible.”
Celtics wing Jaylen Brown (who took a similarly scary fall in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves last year) saw the look on Semi’s face and immediately knew something was wrong.
“Any time anything like that — the back, the head area is obviously serious,” added the Georgia native.
Ojeleye, sometimes called the Man Made of Granite for his rock-hard physique, couldn’t help but think of how he might have reacted differently.
No one should be blaming Semi Ojeleye for anything. It was a completely freak thing. Anyone suggesting anyone is to blame is so far off. https://t.co/QneALjEsMg
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) November 23, 2019
“[In the] back of my mind, I’m like, ‘What could I have done? Should I have moved?'” offered the SMU product. “It happened so fast. Everybody, they told me the same thing, [there was] nothing I could have done.”
As the players stood awkwardly over their fallen teammate, unable to help the medical staff tend to Walker, who was lying inert and almost completely still on the floor of Pepsi Center, second-year center Rob Williams spoke up.
“I was kind of all over the place, and Rob was like, ‘Say a prayer,'” Ojeleye said. “I was like, ‘He’s right.’ It was the right thing to do. I’m glad Rob told me to do that … Thankfully, I think that prayer was answered and many other prayers were answered, because he’s up and about. So we were just praying for the best.”
While Walker appears to be on track to make a full recovery, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens doesn’t plan to rush the All-Star back, good news or not.
Describing the Bronx native’s relatively unscathed status apart from concussion-like symptoms a “minor miracle” (per MassLive’s John Karalis), Stevens explained the reason Walker is unlikely play in the team’s next tilt, a potential revenge match against the Sacramento Kings on Monday.
“The head injuries, the neck injuries are scary, and that’s the reason he’s doubtful, to be honest … I think he could probably play with the strain part but we want to make sure with the way he hit, and certainly because of the sensitivity to head injuries.”
While Walker is officially doubtful to play against the Kings in the team’s next tilt, no one (save perhaps Kemba) is upset, instead thankful things broke so well after such a frightening collision.
With support in the form of two-way player Tremont Waters being called up to help fill in for the injury-plagued Celtics and Walker looking likely to return soon if not Monday, things are much better than they appeared to be for a few scary moments on Friday night.
Yet, the Man Made of Granite more than likely hoped — at least briefly — he was more of a man made of putty to give his teammate a more gentle wall to slam into.
“Seeing it is one thing, but knowing you was involved in the play … I don’t know how to describe it, [that] kind of feeling,” offered the Kansas native.
To the benefit of all, it seems Kemba — and by extension, the Celtics — got quite lucky compared to how things could have played out.
Whether or not you believe in the power of prayer, it’s safe to say the brush with disaster brought the team closer together.
Perhaps more important that anything, it reminded them it’s relationships and people that matter most at the end of the day.