A day after it happened, Sixers guard Jerami Grant described his collision with Robert Covington in Friday’s game against the Nets as “a freak accident.”
Grant suffered a concussion when he hit the ground attempting to swat the ball away from Brooklyn's Donald Sloan. On the way down, he hit Covington in the face and neck area with the heel of his sneaker. Covington was carted off the court on a stretcher and taken to Jefferson Hospital for a precautionary stay.
“I think it was just a bad situation,” Grant said before the Sixers played the Pistons Saturday night. “I kind of flipped over. I don’t remember kicking Cov, but I think I kicked him in his face. I kind of fell on my face. Somebody fell on my head after that.”
Grant said he lost consciousness temporarily as he lay face-down on the court.
“It was like a little blackout,” he said. “Nothing too bad.”
Grant is following the NBA’s concussion protocol, which has included daily checks. Sixers head coach Brett Brown said Grant may only miss one game.
“We may see him in Brooklyn,” Brown said.
As for Covington, Brown expects him to be out “a few games,” but did not have a duration. Brown said Covington wore a neck brace “for a while” and noted, “It is a lot better news than you would guess it was when you watched it.”
Of the three players players who left the game Friday, Brown thinks Richaun Holmes, who strained his right achilles, will be out the longest. Brown received word of as soon as seven days to as many as 10. But given the nature of those injuries, he believes it could be more.
"When I heard that timeframe, you always anticipate it's going to be longer than that," Brown said.
Ish Smith, Isaiah Canaan, Hollis Thompson, Carl Landry and Nerlens Noel started against the Pistons.