SAN FRANCISCO — Sacramento Kings centre Maxime Raynaud was taken off the court in a wheelchair Saturday night after going down with a right knee injury suffered when he set a screen on Stephen Curry late in the first half of a 111-106 pre-season loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Raynaud, a second-year pro who starred at Stanford, was on his back and clearly in pain as medical staff examined him on the floor at Chase Center. He eventually was helped up and moved into a wheelchair to exit the court for the locker room.
Kings general manager Scott Perry escorted the 7-foot-1 Raynaud off the court, and Sacramento owner Vivek Ranadive later came by to check on Raynaud outside the locker room.
Raynaud later received a goodbye hug from Perry and left the locker room on crutches, an ice bag wrapped around the knee. He was in good spirits and smiling walking out of Chase Center.
He had no immediate updates.
“I don't even know, I'm going to get an MRI right now,” he shared while walking out of the arena.
Raynaud set a screen on Curry — who also went down after the collision — for teammate Darius Acuff Jr. when the big man immediately screamed and grabbed at his right knee and fell hard to the floor with 2:32 before halftime. Raynaud had made all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, and three free throws for 10 points to go with five rebounds, an assist and one blocked shot in just less than nine minutes of action.
Veteran forward Ben Simmons offered some encouraging words to Raynaud. Simmons made his preseason debut for the Kings, playing for the first time in more than a year after missing last season because of a chronic back injury and other health concerns.
“That's my teammate. For a guy to go down it sucks ” Simmons said. “I've been there before, I've experienced injuries so I know that feeling. It feels like the end of the world in that moment. Just let him know we're here to support him, whether it's something serious or major or not.”
The Kings selected Raynaud 42nd overall in the second round of last year’s draft and the 23-year-old from France averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists over 74 games last season as a rookie.
He came in averaging 12.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists this preseason.
“It’s tough to always see a teammate go down,” Acuff said.
Coach Doug Christie didn't want to speculate on Raynaud's status without further information, but told his player how much he is loved.
“Love him," Christie said. "He’s part of everything that we do."
