Jul
17
It's been a rough couple of days for Nolan Smith at the Las Vegas Summer League. After scoring 10 points in the first half of Sunday's victory against the New Orleans Hornets, Smith had to leave the game after rolling his left ankle. Nevertheless, he was able to start Tuesday's game against the Rockets.
But in the waning moments of what ended up being a 99-88 loss to Houston, Smith took an elbow to the head from Zoran Dragic while driving to the hoop. After he landed, Smith rubbed his temple a few times, took a few wobbly step and then collapsed to the floor. He was attended to by medical staff for roughly 20 minutes before being taken away on a stretcher to a Las Vegas area hospital. Scary stuff.
Luckily, according to the Trail Blazers PR Twitter account, Nolan is going to be alright.
The game was called with 27 seconds left to play. Smith finished with an impressive 27 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
And according to team owner Paul Allen, that's likely the last we'll see Smith on the court for the 2012 summer league:
It goes without saying that Nolan's long-term health is the most important thing to consider, but it's a shame that, after having missed last year's summer league due to the lockout, he'll likely end up having played only six quarters. I know he's really been looking forward to getting an opportunity to build some confidence and momentum going into the 2012-13 regular season.