Delly's concerning concussion history

Melbourne head coach Dean Vickerman says the welfare of Matthew Dellavedova is of paramount importance to United, as opposed to any games the star guard may miss due to the concussion sustained against Brisbane.

Dellavedova stood strong in an attempt to take a charge from Brisbane’s DJ Mitchell, before Mitchell’s teammate Sam McDaniel accidentally landed on Dellavedova while the guard was on the ground.

He exited the game following the incident and failed to return.

The incident comes after Dellavedova’s teammate Shea Ili missed swathes of NBL23 with concussion issues of his own.

“We’ll find out more information, just more concerned about him right now,” Vickerman said post-game.

“We saw too much of it last year and we were knocking on wood to say we’ve seen all the concussions we’d wanted to see for a long time and we just hope he’s doing good.

“We got him home pretty quickly and so he’ll be assessed. There’s obviously a little bit of history there in his career so we’re just feeling for him right now.”

Dellavedova’s concussion history stems from his time in the NBA, where he forged a reputation as a physical and hard-working defensive presence.

“That’s the way he plays,” teammate Chris Goulding said. “He puts his body on the line, no fast break is ever over when he’s involved in it because he’s a specialist at getting his feet outside the line and getting his body set and taking a charge.

“He only knows one way to play and if he didn’t play like that he wouldn’t be Delly.”

Melbourne will face a double-header against Illawarra and New Zealand this weekend.