PHOENIX – A scary situation happened late in the second quarter of the Phoenix Mercury’s 97-91 loss to the Seattle Storm Saturday at the Footprint Center.
Mercury guard Shey Peddy took a shot to the head by Storm guard-forward Jordan Horston, who was called for a flagrant one foul on the play.
Peddy collapsed in a heap and remained down for a long time. Her teammates and coaches huddled around her. The players blocked the view of their teammate with their Gatorade towels. The music playing over the loudspeaker in the arena continued for some of the time Peddy was down before it was turned off. A few fans began chanting Peddy’s name.
A stretcher was wheeled out, but Peddy remained down a bit longer before she was finally taken into the tunnel under the stands. She did not give a thumbs up while on the stretcher and it was unclear from the media rows if she was awake.
“It’s hard when your teammate goes down in that fashion,” said Mercury guard Diana Taurasi. “Whenever you see someone go out on a stretcher, it’s terrifying. Especially Shey, who’s such a warrior and always puts everything out there and it’s tough to see her go down like that.”
Shortly after Peddy was taken off the court on the stretcher, the team provided an encouraging update.
Peddy had movement in her limbs and was being transported to the hospital to be checked out further.
Injury Update: Shey Peddy has movement in her limbs. She’s headed to the hospital for further evaluation.
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 6, 2023
Mercury center Brittney Griner said there was no conversation with the players about not continuing the game.
“She would want us to keep playing,” Griner said. “I know Shey would want us to keep going out there and competing. And we wanted to do that for her.”
Phoenix head coach Nikki Blue said that it was “never in discussion” to stop the game because, by the time Peddy reached the ambulance, she was “moving some things.”
As for a status update after the game, Blue provided some news that was much better than it could have been.
“They’ve ran tests on her,” Blue said. “They all came back negative, which is positive. And she’s actually been just discharged and she sustained a concussion. So the good thing is that she’s on her way home.”
Update: Shey Peddy sustained a concussion in tonight’s game and was transported to the hospital. All tests came back negative and she will be home tonight. Shey is in good spirits and was following the end of the game 🧡 https://t.co/tHOzBUtKuS
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 6, 2023