According to the NBA’s latest official injury report, rookie Ayo Dosunmu is listed as out for tomorrow’s game against the Charlotte Hornets due to a concussion.
According to the Bulls’ injury report, Ayo Dosunmu is in concussion protocol and will miss the game in Charlotte.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) February 8, 2022
Exactly when the Rising Stars roster member suffered the injury is unknown, but there were two instances in the team’s matchup against the 76ers where Dosunmu took a hard fall. The first incident came on a fastbreak opportunity when Dosunmu took hard contact from Andre Drummond (while simultaneously putting him on a poster). Dosunmu appeared to hit the back of his head on the padding underneath the basket. He immediately grabbed at the front of his head before blinking pretty hard a couple of times.
The second situation occurred in the 4th quarter when Matt Thomas poked the ball away from Joel Embiid. Dosunmu went after the loose ball but collided with Thomas’ shoulder. He, again, grabbed at his head before getting up and staying in the game.
Take a look at both below:
Here is the second instance where Dosunmu hit his head in Sunday’s game.
He and Thomas went for a loose ball. Dosunmu hit his head on Thomas’ shoulder. Like after the dunk above, he looks noticeably shaken up but stays in. pic.twitter.com/9PReLJ69og
— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) February 8, 2022
While it’s possible something happened in last night’s game against the Suns, these feel like the two most obvious instances where Dosunmu could have sustained a head injury. If that is the case, it’s certainly not great to know he played 33 minutes against the Suns – where he did go an uncharacteristic 1-7 from the field with 0 assists and four fouls.
Anyway, with Dosunmu on the sideline for tomorrow’s game, this only further handcuffs an already massively-depleted guard rotation. Not only has Dosunmu moved into the starting point guard role with tremendous success, but he has been one of the team’s best on-ball defenders in recent weeks. The rookie often drew the toughest backcourt assignment, and the Bulls will surely miss that capability against an explosive Hornets offense that has LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier.
Oh, and did I mention the game is on ESPN? Yup, that’s right, another glimpse at a heavily depleted Bulls team live on the national airways! Yippie!