Why are men on TV laughing at the head injury that Anthony Davis sustained?
Head injuries are not anything to chuckle at.
Unless, it appears, Lakers centre Anthony Davis is the one hurt.
Then, after Davis took an elbow to the head and needed a wheelchair to return to the locker room during the Lakers’ 121-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night in San Francisco, it becomes hilarious, at least based on the reactions of several TV commentators.
Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, the broadcasters for “NBA on TNT,” couldn’t stop laughing during their postgame discussion of the game—ostensibly at Davis’ expense.
Barkley remarked, “Shaq is over there crumpling up paper, that’s why I’m laughing,” seemingly implying that the frequently injured Davis is composed of paper.
Barkley hinted that fellow pundit Kenny Smith might have joined in on the antics as well, pretending to use his own chair as a wheelchair. Smith explained that he was just moving his seat.
On Thursday morning, anchor Stephen A. Smith of ESPN’s “First Take” seemed to make fun of Davis for perhaps getting a concussion during a basketball game.
“Brain injury? Head injury? Smith stated with scepticism. “I assumed the NFL season was finished.”
Then, he did not try to disguise his laughter at Davis’s inability to walk following the accident.
“A mobility chair? A wheelchair? Smith continued in the same tone of disbelief. “Really? We are there, right?
“We got to stop! We got to stop it, man! It’s the playoffs, man!” Smith shouted to the apparent amusement of co-host Jay Williams. “I mean, was he running over the middle and get hit by Ronnie Lott or something? Did I miss something? … I mean, did he get hit by Aaron Donald? Did I miss something?”
When reminded that concussions are serious, Smith toned it down for a second or two.
“Hold on. No one is saying a concussion isn’t serious,” he said quietly, before launching back into his smirky shout.
