Denver Nuggets Injury Rumors 2016: Kenneth Faried Stretchered Off, May Have Suffered Neck Injury
Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets suffered a painful neck injury on Saturday during his team's overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors. The fiery forward appeared to have taken an inadvertent elbow from a teammate in a rebounding battle in the dying seconds of the overtime period.
While hustling for a rebound, he got the elbow, which fell directly into the back of his neck. He appeared fine after the incidents, but only a few minutes later, he already was visibly in pain, bending over the sideline, and eventually losing his balance that he had to sit down.
According to the team physician, Faried was immediately brought to the nearest hospital to be examined further, and this is where doctors revealed that he had a lower cervical vertebrae issue and needed to be admitted overnight for more observation. The good news is that Faried did not seem to have any problems with his hands and feet, particularly being able to move them. It means that there are no known neurological symptoms, thus far.
Nuggets point guard Jameer Nelson did not see the play but he thought the injury looked very frightening. "Obviously, any time you're dealing with a neck or back, it's scary. I didn't see the play. We were playing… hopefully he's good," Nelson talked about injury.
Faried is someone a thin Nuggets frontline cannot afford to lose. He currently is leading the team in rebounds and is the most glaring example of hustle and determination on the court. He dives to get the ball, jumps into the stands, and provides suffocating defense on opposing teams' scorers. Before the injury, he already had 15 points on top of 12 rebounds in less than 30 minutes of playing.
The team is facing a five-game losing streak and losing Faried for some time definitely will hurt their cause.
