Nick Weiler-Babb sustains concussion, avoids greater damage / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Imago-Scanpix Credit Imago-Scanpix

Bayern Munich's guard Nick Weiler-Babb, who got injured in the first half of his team's BBL game against Hamburg Towers (86-75 for the hosts), has only sustained a serious concussion, per the German club.

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The news comes as a relief after the 26-year-old slipped off the rim with his hands, following a dunk attempt. Weiler-Babb landed on the floor on his head. He lay unconscious and motionless for several minutes until he was carried out on a stretcher.

The German League's best defender passed out immediately, but regained consciousness within minutes and was responsive at the hospital, as sports director Daniele Baiesi said.

The examinations he underwent revealed not a fracture in the area of the head, but a serious concussion.

Credit Imago-Scanpix

"It was very dangerous and we're lucky to be able to comment on another tragedy - albeit on a smaller scale," coach Andrea Trinchieri said in the post-game presser.

The experienced coach described how the accident took place and how his player lost balance while airborne. He emphasized that Weiler-Babb was touched by a Hamburg Towers player after the dunk but also stressed that the referees' reaction to the play was rather disappointing.

"He went for the dunk, nobody touched him on the dunk. After he missed the dunk and lost balance, he was touched as if nothing happened," Trinchieri pointed out.

"The referees told me that he was not fouled on the dunk - and they were right. But when you touch a player is being touched in the air, it's very dangerous. The play and the outcome were very dangerous.

The player of the opponent team shouldn't touch a player in the air and then referees should preview the play. If they cannot, they shouldn't say it wasn't a foul. We should protect players from both teams."

The 53-year-old bench boss of Bayern Munich repeated that things could have turned out much worse.

"Now we could be talking about a tragedy! If you look at the pictures, when he hit the ground, we are lucky! And I don’t know the extent of how lucky we are. He is conscious, but now we have to see what happens because he had a very big hit in the face," he said.

Referring to his players' reaction to the horrible scene and the fact that they managed to regain focus down the road, Trinchieri admitted that "many players were out, they were not there. They were just holograms. Because we live more together than with our families. If something like that happens to one of us, it hits everybody."

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