LSU forward Sa’Myah Smith fainted at the White House on Friday while the women’s basketball national championship team was visiting.
President Joe Biden was giving his remarks, while the LSU team stood right behind him, when there appeared to be an issue in the team area. Biden stopped speaking to get a sense of what was going on and the proceedings were stopped for around six minutes as doctors attended to Smith.
After a few minutes, Smith regained consciousness and was helped out of the area on a wheelchair.
When Biden began speaking again, he acknowledged that this kind of thing happens more often than it should to people who have to stand while the president speaks.
“That’s not the first time that that’s happened, not to her but to a lot of folks standing up on that stage,” Biden said.
LSU women's basketball player Sa'Myah Smith faints while President Biden delivers remarks at the White House. pic.twitter.com/hKRccCBGou
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 26, 2023
LSU coach Kim Mulkey assured everyone that Smith was O.K.
“Sa’Myah is fine, for those of you who are concerned,” Mulkey said, via USA Today’s Tom Schad.
Smith was a freshman forward this year who averaged 4.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 36 games on the season. She played 11 minutes in the national championship game, scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds.
