NBA fans ‘pray’ for Thunder star who collapsed to the floor in scary sideline incident
Oklahoma City Thunder star Bismack Biyombo was involved in a scary sideline incident on Wednesday night.
The shocking moment occurred during the first half of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers as his Thunder teammates were leaving the floor for a stop in play.
Biyombo was on the bench at the time and greeted his teammates and gave them high-fives before collapsing to the floor.
The 14-year NBA veteran took a few steps backwards and fainted onto his back with no obvious reason for the fall.
His Thunder teammates surrounded the bench immediately and called for help as the 31-year-old stayed grounded for a few moments.
A wheelchair was brought onto the court but thankfully Bismack was able to eventually get to his feet and leave the court on his own.
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Fans online expressed concern for the Thunder forward and hoped he was OK.
"Don't know what happened, but hope he’s okay," one account on X, formerly Twitter, wrote.
"That's scary af," commented a second.
"Prayers," added a third.
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"Sheesh, hope he's alright," a fourth replied.
Fortunately, Biyombo was cleared of any serious medical conditions by the Blazers physicians that were on site, according to Thunder sideline reporter Nick Gallo.
"Bismack Biyombo has been cleared of any serious medical issue by the Blazers physicians but the Thunder will be conservative and hold him out the rest of the game for monitoring and further evaluation tomorrow," Gallo wrote.
NBA Insider Brett Siegel added: "I am told Biyombo was alert after initially collapsing."
The No.7 overall pick in the 2011 draft was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game.
It's still unclear what caused him to fall but he's expected to undergo further tests to ascertain what actually happened.
Biyombo was playing in just his fifth game with the Thunder after signing with the team in early February.
He has bounced around the league since being drafted by the Hornets and most recently played for the Suns and Grizzlies.
OKC were able to put the terrifying incident to their back of their minds and hold on for a 128-120 victory against the Blazers at the Moda Center in Portland.
MVP contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points while Rookie of the Year candidate Chet Holmgren finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
The Thunder have been one of the best teams in the NBA this season and currently share the West's No.1 seed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Both teams have a 43-19 record while the 14th-seeded Blazers are 17-44.