Australian basketball player fractures back after backboard crashes down during practice

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Ben Griscti, who plays for the Australian professional men's basketball team, the Adelaide 36ers, is on the road to recovery after he was on the receiving end of a backboard mishap recently during practice.

The 36-year-old ended up with a fractured vertebra after a backboard collapsed following a fellow basketball player’s dunk during last Saturday’s practice at the Australian Institute of Sport Arena in Canberra, the Adelaide 36ers confirmed.

The injury forced Griscti to the sideline for the start of Australia’s National Basketball League season.

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Ben Griscti warms up ahead of the round 13 National Basketball League Australia match between South East Melbourne Phoenix and Adelaide 36ers at John Cain Arena, on Dec. 21, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. (Josh Chadwick/Getty Images)

"Ben was injured when a backboard collapsed on top of him during the team’s shootaround at the AIS Arena, ahead of the side’s final NBL Blitz game," a news release from the Adelaide 36ers read.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a hospital was located within a five-minute car trip from the arena, but it took roughly 90 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. 

"There were a number of other emergencies in the territory at the time of that call," an ACT Ambulance Service official told the outlet.

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"As soon as we were able to dispatch a paramedic crew to that patient they attended, and they transported that patient in a stable condition through to the emergency department," the spokesperson added.