Last Friday, Hornets rookie sensation Anthony Davis suffered a mild concussion after taking an elbow to the head from his teammate, Austin Rivers. As a precaution, Davis was not allowed to fly with his team to Chicago on Saturday. Hornets coach Monty Williams was not happy about that, and expressed his displeasure in perfect crotchety-old-football-coach fashion. From ESPN Chicago:
"When you're dealing with the brain, I guess what's happening in football has impacted everybody," Williams said before the game. "He got touched up a little bit last night. That happens a lot in basketball. It's just that now they treat everybody like they have white gloves and pink drawers and it's getting old. It's just the way the league is now."
[...]
"It's a man's game," Williams said. "They're treating these guys like they're 5 years old. He desperately wanted to come, but he couldn't make it."
White gloves, pink drawers, and a vociferous reminder that basketball is indeed a man's game? It sounds like Monty Williams got a little Bear Bryant in him. But don't worry—Williams is a meta-curmudgeon, too:
The NBA is doing what's necessary to protect the players, but this is not the NFL. You don't get hit in the head that much. I understand it. But as a coach, I'm a baby about it. I want my guys ready to play. That's basically the bottom line; I'm just a baby."
So: Don't whine about concussions, and certainly don't whine about whining about concussions. And don't even ask about knees.
[ESPN]