The Duke Blue Devils basketball team has released a Kyle Filipowski injury update, and their fans, maybe fans of Wake Forest, too, can heave a sigh of relief as no major damage was found.
Filipowski, a projected Top 10 NBA draft pick, got hurt over the weekend after getting trapped in the middle of the basketball court when Wake Forest supporters stormed in to celebrate their team's win.
It can be seen in the video how the Associated Press All-American player scrambled to get out of the avalanche of people.
He collided with another fan seemingly talking to him and almost got tripped before a team staff member saved him from falling completely on the ground in danger of getting stomped on.
Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said Filipowski avoided a major injury and is just "a little bit sore" a few days after the incident.
His star player's status for their Wednesday game against Louisville remains unclear.
Initially, Scheyer suggested that Filipowski hurt his ankle. However, his recent update stated the player will not require any diagnostic internal imaging for the knee to search for a structural injury.
The Wake Forest basketball team has apologized for the incident since then, expressing "regret for the situation and our concern for the Duke student-athlete's well-being."
Calls for court-storming ban
Kyle Filipowski's video has led to criticisms of the Atlantic Coast Conference's handling of fans.
This custom has become a staple in college basketball, with women's college basketball star Caitlin Clark of Iowa being one of those who command such action.
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Filipowski avoided a risky injury, but Scheyer stands by his comment that court-storming should be banned.
"Absolutely we shouldn't wait until next year, something should be done right now," he said in a press conference Monday.
"At the end of the day, players and coaches and officials are the only people that belong on a court."
Filipowski, for his part, thought what the Wake Forest supporters did was personal. He even said there was some punching involved.
"I've already heard that there's some videos of getting punched in the back," he said.
"So I absolutely feel like it was personal, intentional, for sure. There's no reason where they see a big guy like me trying to work my way off the court and they can't just work their way around me. There's no excuse for that."
The court of public opinion
Social media users and Wake Forest supporters were quick to debunk his claims based on videos of Kyle Filipowski's incident on X (formerly Twitter.
Many pointed out how Filipowski swung his arms into an oncoming fan. This got him tangled with him, and the speed of another fan coming at him took away his momentum.
To them, what happened to him was because of that swing of the arms.
Others thought Scheyer was just right for his call to ban court-storming to prevent similar incidents that might result in something more tragic.
Related article: 5 Records That Iowa Star Caitlin Clark Owns Aside From NCAA Women's Scoring Leader
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