Celtics giant Fall concussed after banging head washing hands

[October 25, 2019]    (Reuters) - The tallest players in the National Basketball Association may be able to reach for the sky, but Boston Celtics rookie Tacko Fall found out the painful way that even without a ball in his hands he can't beat a low ceiling.

Celtics center Tacko Fall (99) gathers in a pass in front of a Cleveland Cavaliers defender during the second half of a preseason game at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The 7ft 5in (2.26m) center was placed in concussion protocol after banging his head while washing his hands after a workout at the Celtics practice facility last Friday, Massachusetts-based website MassLive.com  reported.

The 23-year-old from Senegal missed Boston's season-opening 107-93 defeat by the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday as he had entered the league's concussion protocol two days earlier after experiencing delayed symptoms.

"Tacko got hit in the head after individual work. He was a little under the weather. It sounds like being very cautious about that," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said on the eve of the match.

Stevens added on Wednesday that Fall, who had signed with the team as an undrafted free agent in July, was expected to make a recovery "real soon".

NBA protocol requires a player to be without any concussion symptoms at rest. A doctor will then evaluate the player and put him through a "return-to-participation" exertion protocol before a team doctor and NBA's concussion program director clear him.

Fall was the headliner at the draft combine this year with the biggest wingspan (8ft 2.25 in), standing reach (10ft 2.5in) and height with shoes (7ft 7in) since the NBA began recording statistics in the 2000-01 season.

He is joint fifth in the list of tallest NBA players ever, behind only Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol (both 7ft 7in) and Shawn Bradley and Yao Ming (both 7ft 6in).

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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