Gerald Wallace goes down hard, leaves game with injury (VIDEO)

Gerald Wallace has earned the nickname “Crash” over the years for a reason. He consistently and fearlessly takes flight around the rim, with little or no regard for his own personal safety.

Early in Friday night’s win over the Suns, Wallace went up for a basket, but was fouled by P.J. Tucker in mid-air, and the contact sent Wallace crashing to the floor, where he landed awkwardly and remained down for several minutes.

The official injury was reported to be bruised ribs, and X-rays were negative. We don’t know if Wallace could have returned, but NBA rules prohibited that since he was unable to shoot his free throws after the foul; teammate Tyshawn Taylor attempted them in his place.

The play was ruled to be a personal foul by the officials — after reviewing the replay, they determined that it was not a flagrant, despite the way Wallace went down after the contact was made.