Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said Monday at media day that center Myles Turner suffered a concussion last week while working out at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and will start camp under the league’s concussion protocol.
As the team was playing 5-on-5 last week, Turner caught an elbow of rookie Alex Poythress to the side of his head. He then felt a little dizzy, went to the doctors, and was then placed in the league’s standard protocol.
He plans to begin the return-to-participation protocol Tuesday morning before the start of training camp.
“It’s my first concussion,” Turner said. “I’ve never experienced one. I didn’t even know I had one. I just had a couple of headaches and they went and diagnosed me with one. They said it was real mild and I should be ready to go, if not tomorrow then sometime this week.”
McMillan spoke highly of Turner’s work ethic this summer, working out for the majority of the offseason. He believes Turner took his play to another level last postseason.
Turner is firmly in the team’s plan, already declared a starter by coach McMillan — in addition to Jeff Teague, Monta Ellis, Paul George, and Thad Young.
Jeremy Evans, acquired this offseason in a trade with Dallas, has not been out on the court playing. Evans said last week that he still hadn’t been cleared by the team’s medical staff to take contact.
“Jeremy Evans is still rehabbing and is not on the court playing right now. It’s a possibility that he may not be ready to, certainly he won’t be ready for training camp, and I would say maybe not even ready for the start of the season. So we are still rehabbing him and his situation.”