The Hawks announced that guard Trae Young entered the NBA’s concussion protocol. There is no specific timetable for when Young could return to team activities.
Young exited Saturday night’s game against Cleveland after drawing a charge from Cavaliers wing Isaac Okoro with 8:43 remaining in the fourth quarter. He got into position outside the restricted area but Okoro elbowed the Hawks guard across the face and sent him flying out of bounds as he tried to avoid Young.
The Hawks guard stayed down for several seconds before teammates helped him up. But then he squatted back to the ground.
The team’s athletic training and medical staff evaluated the guard and diagnosed him with a concussion. As part of his care, Young had a physical and cognitive exertion limited under the direction of his team’s medical staff.
He’ll then have a brief period of rest (24-48 hours) after injury and the team’s physician may sign off on him becoming gradually and progressively more active, as long as the activity level does not bring on or worsen his symptoms.
Physicians have also likely directed Young to limit his use of electronic games and devices, as well as provided information about the need for appropriate sleep, nutrition, and hydration, and limit his exposure to large groups of people, such as any post-game fan appreciation activities or media availability, until he is cleared by a member of the team’s medical staff to do so.
Young will begin the NBA-mandated Return-to-Participation process per the league’s Concussion Policy. There is no predetermined timetable to complete the process since each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.
For now though, Young cannot return to full participation without completing the process and will not travel with the team on its upcoming two-game trip. It includes a series of steps designed to ensure an athlete exhibits symptom-free behavior before resuming basketball activities.
Young will be regularly monitored for 24 hours for the evolution of symptoms, and he may not begin the return-to-participation exertion process until 24 hours after the time of injury. A team physician determines the initiation of the return-to-participation exertion process.
Once he is cleared, Young will go through several steps of increasing exertion – from a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to non-contact team drills.
A member of the Hawks medical staff will directly monitor Young through each exertion stage. With each step, a focused neurological examination is performed and he must be symptom-free to move to the next step. If Young is not symptom-free after a step, he must stop until he is. Once he presents zero symptoms he can begin again at the last step he passed without any symptoms.
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