Kinda Fucked Up: Shaq And Chuck Get The Giggles After Anthony Davis Exits Game 5 Loss In A Wheelchair Due To Head Injury
Not good for the Lakers. Not good at all. Anthony Davis has dealt with myriad injuries throughout his NBA career. Although this appeared to be a shot to the eye and not much else, the fact that he couldn't head to the locker room fully under his own power and wound up in a wheelchair is cause for alarm.
...And here Shaq and Charles Barkley are on the TNT postgame show getting into a laughing fit about it. Look, I understand that these guys were big men in a way different era of basketball. Much more physicality, toughness and all that were required. Still kinda sucks — whether it was the intention of Shaq and Chuck or not — that this became a joke at AD's expense. It's still his well-being we're talking about. Not really a laughing matter any way you slice it. Once Kenny Smith adjusted his chair, Chuck seemed to poke fun at the wheelchair in particular.
Another update from insider Chris Haynes suggests the Lakers avoided the ultimate nightmare scenario:
Obviously the optimal outcome for LA would've been to close out the Dubs in this one. I don't think anyone with a brain expected that to happen. Golden State's core has won four championships and weren't about to get bounced at home. When Draymond Green is scoring 20 points on you and most of the other Warriors are feeding off that energy, it's probably not your night.
So like, yeah, take the "L" on the chin…but throw in AD's latest injury into the equation? NOT GREAT.
It's only about a 48-hour turnaround between now and Game 6. Davis is going to do all he can to be on the floor. Such a bizarre situation. I'm not going to speculate on what AD's specific injury is. It doesn't look like your traditional concussion type of blow to the head. Perhaps the contact to his eye made his equilibrium a little off? Fuck if I know, I'm not a doc.
You know who is? This guy — and he offers the Purple and Gold faithful even more hope apart from Haynes' final update:
David J. Chao tends to be pretty spot-on. Nevertheless, an AD injury scare is the ultimate nightmare fuel for the Lakers and their fans, who need him at his best to knock out the reigning NBA champions on Friday. Should Golden State pull that one out, there's no way the Dubs go back home for Game 7 and fail to capitalize on that opportunity.
Don't get me wrong. Objectively, narratively and historically speaking, it'd be a hell of a story to see Steph, Klay and Dray punch back at LeBron for the 2016 NBA Finals when they blew that 3-1 lead to the Cavs. HOWEVER, not like this! Not with AD out or significantly limited. LeBron was favoring that still-injured foot a bit in Game 5, so that's enough to deal with as is.
And please don't compare Draymond's dumbassery/2016 Finals suspension to this. Dray wasn't hurt. He was an idiot. This is a question of player health. Hoping for the best for Anthony Davis. Sounds like it wasn't a concussion, thank goodness. The fact that his status is even slightly dubious for Game 6 is a bummer, though.
…Lastly: As much as I love me some Shaq-Chuck banter, every now and then some shit like this will happen and it's just kind of unfortunate. Have a touch of class, fellas. Again, whether it was their actual intention or not, laughing hysterically at AD being hurt was how it came off and it wasn't a good look.
Update: AD should be available for Game 6.