Oklahoma City Thunder big man Nerlens Noel suffered a very scary injury against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
While going up to contest a dunk from Timberwolves wing Andrew Wiggins, Noel took an elbow to the face from Wiggins and then took a very hard fall and lay motionless on the floor with trainers and teammates around him.
Noel was then taken off the court on a stretcher.
He scored six points in six minutes before exiting.
During the game, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell expressed his concern for Noel on Twitter:
Prayers for Nerlens Noel! Thatâs scary! @NerlensNoel3
â Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) January 9, 2019
Indeed.
Thunder team doctors were even yelling at Noel to âkeep his eyes openâ as he lay on the floor.
In 39 games for Oklahoma City this season, Noel is averaging five points and 4.7 rebounds over 13.9 minutes per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the floor and 72.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Noel signed a one-year deal with the Thunder this past summer.
The 24-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at the University of Kentucky, was originally selected by the then-New Orleans Hornets with the sixth overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, but he was immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Noel did not play the following year due to a torn ACL, making his NBA debut in 2014-15 when he averaged 9.9 points, 8.1 boards and 1.9 blocks per game.
However, Noel has simply been not been able to stay healthy since, and as a result, the 76ers traded him to the Dallas Mavericks midway through the 2016-17 campaign, where he played in just 42 games over a year-and-a-half before landing in Oklahoma City.
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