Mercury Coach Addresses Controversial Satou Sabally Head Injury Handling
The Phoenix Mercury suffered a crucial blow to their chances of making a historic comeback against the Las Vegas Aces in the 2025 WNBA Finals when star wing Satou Sabally went down with a head injury during Game 3 on October 8.
Sabally's head hit the leg of an Aces player while she was trying to grab a rebound during Game 3. Sabally immediately held her head and was clearly in a lot of pain. After being down for about 10 minutes, she was eventually helped up by a member of Phoenix's coaching staff and one of her teammates, who tried bringing her back to the locker room.
But the attempt to get her there wasn't well thought out, and videos of them walking Sabally away sparked scrutiny because it seemed like they didn't do a good job of stabilizing her head or otherwise limiting the potential concussive impacts of the head injury.
Satou Sabally is helped off the court. pic.twitter.com/4nYIQqDEv5
— J. Rᴏsᴀʟʏᴇ ☽ (@Jrosalye) October 9, 2025
A great example of this scrutiny came via a viral post from concussion specialist Jess Schwartz, who made an X post addressing how the injury was handled by writing, "When an athlete experiences a possible head and neck injury, lifting or moving them manually without stabilizing the neck can cause serious secondary injury.
"What we saw today is a reminder that concussion and spinal injury protocols are not just medical checklists, they are lifesaving procedures designed to protect athletes’ futures both on and off the court," the post added.
🧠💥 Satou Sabally WNBA FINALS MEDICAL COMMENTARY: SIDELINE CARE MATTERS 🚑
— 🚴🏻♀️🧠🎙 Jess Schwartz DPT, CSCS 👩🏻⚕️🗽🎾 (@DPT2Go) October 9, 2025
During today’s @wnba Finals, forward Satou Sabally sustained a serious injury to her head and neck that was rotational and compressive in nature coupled with a direct hit to one of the most vulnerable… pic.twitter.com/xxdNzIP4h4
It didn't take long for news to break that Sabally did indeed receive a concussion as a result of this hit, which will keep her sidelined for Game 4 on Friday (where the Aces have a chance to sweep Phoenix and become 2025 WNBA champions).
Mercury's Nate Tibbetts Speaks on Satou Sabally Injury Handling
Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts spoke with the media on October 10. After noting that Sabally is now back home after spending Wednesday night in the hospital, Tibbetts was asked about the medical staff picking her up in the wake of the injury.
"I'm not sure the process. It was good, the other night, talking to some of our medical team. There was discussion with Satou when she was on the floor, like how she was feeling, if there was pain here or there," Tibbetts said, per an X post from Desert Wave Media.
"They wouldn't have moved her if she was in any kind of jeopardy. I'm sure she was telling them she was fine, would be my guess," he added. "If the process was for her not to be picked up, I'm guessing our group wouldn't have picked her up.
"And so, I don't know the protocol on it. It sounds like we handled it the right way," he concluded.
Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts on the medical staff picking up Satou Sabally after she suffered a concussion in Game 3.
— Desert Wave Media (@DesertWaveCo) October 10, 2025
“It sounds like we handled it the right way.”#WNBA pic.twitter.com/bAoJxNsgm9
This response is sure to raise some eyebrows, especially once some of the medical professionals who condemned how Sabally's head was handled hear about it.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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