Basketball player describes 'miracle' recovery after eyeball popped out during game

Basketball player Akil Mitchell has called his quick recovery after his eyeball popped out in the middle of a game a "miracle."

Mitchell, 24, was contesting a rebound early in the final quarter of the match in Auckland on Thursday when another player unintentionally poked him in the eye, causing his left eyeball to dislodge from its socket.

The New Zealand Breakers forward has today said that he expects to make a full recovery from the horrific injury.

“I’m looking up and my eye’s still moving but it’s out here,” Mitchell told the National Basketball League (NBL) after the incident.

“I touched it and I immediately wanted to push it back in and I was like, ‘that’s a bad idea’.

“I could still see, I could still move it. I never lost vision, never went blurry, thank God. It’s feeling much better today.”

The American was treated on court and eventually walked off the floor with a towel draped over his head to conceal his injury.

Mitchell, who previously played college basketball for the University of Virginia, said that during his trip to the hospital his eye "remarkably" slipped back into place and he had to convince doctors it had been dislodged.

“In the hospital, the specialist that was on call, I don’t think he believed me,” he said.

“He was asking to see the video, just because it had already gone back in and he didn’t see any damage."

Mitchell said he was told "a couple of fancy words, a couple more big ones" and now needs to undergo a few more tests.

“Today I really just feels like I got punched in the face. It’s pretty bruised and scratched but I don’t think there’s anything serious," he said.

After being released from hospital, he also posted on Twitter that he was "seeing fine" and joking about if it was too soon to use the eyeballs emoji.

The player, who was born in North Carolina, added that he had no problem with his team’s choice to finish the game after his injury and reportedly even described their loss as the worst part of the night.

“Injuries are part of the game, it happens,” Mitchell said.

“If one of [my teammates] were to go down I’d want to win for them.

“I’m not happy with the way it ended, I really wish we would’ve won. They’ll hear about it, for sure."

Mitchell also said Cairns Taipans centre Nnanna Egwu, the player who accidentally caused the injury, “shouldn’t take it too hard.”

Mitchell has said he wants to get back on court as soon as possible.

His team is currently competing for a playoff spot in the Swisse NBL Finals with three games left on their regular season schedule.