Kevin Love was placed in concussion protocol by the NBA after suffering effects from being hit in the head by Harrison Barnes during the second quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. The way that the matter was handled should be a concern to many fans.
After being hit in the head by Barnes while going for a rebound, Love went to the ground (video here). Though he recovered for a minute after a timeout was called, he went right back into the game when play resumed and even made a 3-pointer.
But it wasn’t until Love experienced some symptoms in the second half that he was taken out of the game because of concussion concerns.
The NBA said in a statement that Love was taken in for examination after experiencing dizziness in the second half.
Cavs offered this injury update on Love: pic.twitter.com/fVmyh3vkJI
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 6, 2016
The NBA said that because Love did not experience any concussion symptoms, he was not placed in the protocol. But anyone watching could tell Love’s head was hit hard and that he was at a clear risk of having a concussion. Shouldn’t he have been pulled off the court for safety purposes? If this were the NFL, people would have been all over them for letting someone back into a game so quickly after hitting their head.
