"Bizarre injuries" caused by everyday objects are not uncommon among NBA players. As Sports Illustrated notes, apples, duffel bags and mattresses have all been pinpointed as culprits behind an athlete's sudden incapacitation in the past.
Now it appears that we can add yet another common household fixture to the list: a run-of-the-mill doorway that is said to have thwarted Boston Celtics' Fab Melo in a South Dakota hotel last weekend.
According to the Boston Globe, Melo, who is 7'0'', accidentally walked into a door frame in his Sioux Falls hotel room and suffered a concussion as a result.
ESPN's Greg Payne joked:
Melo had been in South Dakota with the Maine Red Claws (his NBA Development League assignment), who were playing "back-to-back games" against the Sioux Falls Skyforce, CSNNE.com notes.
The rookie center reportedly did not play in the Red Claws' Monday afternoon game and was not in uniform at the Celtics game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. It is unclear when he will be back on the court.
"I still have a little headache," Melo told CSNNE.com. "Sometimes I can't really focus on something for a long time, that's it."
On Wednesday, Celtics' coach Doc Rivers poked fun at Melo, pointing out that the 22-year-old Brazilian player has some "clumsy tendencies."
“I think, what did you have? Manny being Manny?” joked Rivers, referring to former Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez, once described by a New Yorker writer as being occasionally "oafish and clumsy."
“[In] five years when Fab’s playing terrific for us here, we’re going to have some Fab being Fab moments. He just took kind of a head start… Literally,” Rivers continued.
As CSNNE.com notes, Melo is currently averaging 10.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game this season for the Red Claws. He first signed on to the Celtics last summer and was assigned to the Red Claws in November.
Kurt Helin for NBC Sports mused:
Melo’s game needs work -- enough so that despite the need for a big man the Celtics have left him in the D-League. He’s a project that is years in the making and the Celtics are a win-now team. They are going the right thing bringing him along slowly… and making sure he’s in a place with taller door frames.
Though the Celtics recalled Melo from the D-League this week, SportsGrid reports that the move was simply to allow the rookie to receive treatment from a team’s medical staff.