TJ Ford Taken From Court On Stretcher

by Lang Whitaker

I know I’ve been awol this week…more on that tomorrow.

For now, I’m in Atlanta at the Hawks/Raptors game, and about five minutes ago on a breakaway layup, Al Horford whacked TJ Ford across the face. Ford went down hard and his head appeared to snap back in nearly a whiplash motion. Ford lay there motionless for a while and in TV close-ups he appeared to be in tears.

Ford was eventually taken from the floor on a stretcher, his neck immobilized. I don’t think there was any intent to injure from Al — TJ kinda freaked him with a reverse layup and Al tried to block the shot, but got all face. Horford was charged with a flagrant two foul and ejected from the game, which the Raptors won easily.

For a guy who’s been through what TJ’s been through, some pretty scary moments tonight. Lets all hope for the best.