So this time we’re out playing basketball again. Same park. Different friends.
Some guys on the other end of the court wanted to get together for a five-on-five full court game. Okay, okay, we’ll do that.
Part way through the second game, one of the guys goes up for a layup at the end of a fast break. One of my friends was running full spend down the court to guard the guy. As the ball went up, my friend jumped, totally blocked the shot, and knocked the ball out of bounds.
My friend, though, jumped while he was still running and ended up almost on top of the other guy. While my friend was in the air, he was pushed off course and off the court from blocking the shot. Still in the air, he slammed his face straight into the pole that holds up the goal.
I didn’t say this at the time, but it looked like he hit his face harder than anyone I’d seen since my brother, William, tripped on a skateboard and hit his forehead on the street. For what it’s worth, my brother ended up with a concussion.
My friend’s mouth looked like it hit first, but his whole head bounced off the pole. He even left some blood and spit on it. I later heard that some of the guys who were closer saw part of his tooth fly off.
Yeah, his tooth fly off. Two pieces actually. His front left tooth and the tooth beside it lost some big chunks. Pretty gnarly.
Surprisingly, his lips and gums weren’t cut up too badly. He still bled though. He tried to rinse the blood out with some water, but of course it was still messy. His face, though, seemed perfectly fine, except his teeth.
When it happened, I was scared. It didn’t look good. In fact, it looked terrible. He could have easily hit his forehead and been knocked out or broken his nose or sliced up his face. I’m sure it hurt really badly, especially as the shock wore off, but he didn’t show it. Thankfully, he was able to recover pretty well after only 15 minutes.
He’s planning to see the dentist tomorrow – that’s what he was really worried about. I’m just thankful he’s not in the hospital – that’s what I was really worried about.
But hey, as someone said, “At least he went out on a soldier play.” Because it was… he rocked that.
