Blazers' CJ McCollum References Mike Tyson's 'Spinal' Comment over Back Injury

Adam Wells @adamwells1985Featured ColumnistAugust 15, 2020

Portland Trail Blazers' CJ McCollum reacts to a shot against the Memphis Grizzlies during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Kevin C. Cox/Pool Photo via AP)

Kevin C. Cox/Associated Press

After coming up huge in the Portland Trail Blazers' 126-122 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, CJ McCollum invoked a classic Mike Tyson moment to discuss his back injury.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of McCollum's impression of Tyson's 2003 claim that he broke his back before knocking out Clifford Etienne in 49 seconds:

David Astramskas @redapples
"I broke my back. Spinal." @CJMcCollum's impersonation of Mike Tyson https://t.co/rh22pZGYV5

Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports Northwest reported on Aug. 11 that McCollum has been playing with a non-displaced transverse process fracture in his L3 vertebra. He suffered the injury during the Blazers' 125-115 win over the Denver Nuggets on Aug. 6.

You would never have known anything was physically wrong with McCollum on Saturday. The 28-year-old had 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting to help the Blazers win their play-in game to advance to the postseason.

Portland will take on the Los Angeles Lakers in a Western Conference first-round series starting Tuesday.

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