Kemba Walker Celtics star released from hospital and will be reevaluated tomorrow

Boston Celtics point guard Kemba Walker was stretchered off the court after his head collided with teammate Semi Ojeleye's torso while he went for a steal against the Denver Nuggets on Friday.


Kemba Walker has historically been among the most durable players in all of basketball. He didn't miss a single game until his third season in the league and had missed only six in total over the past four seasons.

In a scary scene, Walker went down after colliding with teammate Semi Ojeleye and stayed down for several minutes while trainers attended to him.

The team announced that Walker had concussion-like symptoms and was being transported to a hospital for evaluation, and according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Walker looks like he avoided a serious injury.

But accidents happen, and that looks to be the case right now, as Walker suffered a scary injury against the Denver Nuggets on Friday. While trying to control a pass that he deflected, Walker ran headfirst into the chest of teammate Semi Ojeleye. He was immediately taken off the court on a stretcher.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said on the network the Celtics believed Walker avoided "significant injury." Boston head coach Brad Stevens also provided a postgame update following Denver's 96-92 win:

A hush fell over the arena as trainers and team staff surrounded Walker on the floor. Walker was placed on the stretcher, which was then wheeled off the floor to a loud ovation from the Denver crowd.

Head and neck injuries are fairly uncommon in basketball. This play was just a freak accident. Nothing could have prevented it. Thankfully, it does not appear to be serious.

Despite the loss, the Celtics are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference early in the season. They're 11-4 and third in the East and doing it without forward Gordon Hayward, who is currently sidelined for at least another month with a broken left hand.

But if this injury had indeed kept Walker out for an extended period, it would not have been the first time Boston has suffered this sort of calamity with a star free-agent addition. Hayward infamously suffered a severe foot injury in his very first game with the Celtics.