Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons, this year's top overall pick, broke his foot in a freak accident during practice and is set to undergo surgery to repair it. He is projected to be sidelined for at least three months, which means he will make his NBA debut by December this year or January of next year.
ESPN reported that the surgery is scheduled next week and that the 20-year-old Australian is "expected to miss about three months". The team "would peg his return in December or possibly even January" depending on the speed of the healing and recovery.
Simmons was injured during the team's final training camp scrimmage last Friday at the Stockton University in New Jersey when he jumped and landed on the foot of teammate Shawn Long. Reports said that during one play, the former LSU standout rolled his ankle which led to a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
X-rays and an MRI confirmed the fracture which had him scheduled for surgery.
According to Dr. Mark Adickes, ESPN's resident medical analyst, Simmons' injury, also known as a Jones fracture, typically heals around eight weeks after the operation. A few more weeks of rehab will then give Simmons a timetable of 10-12 weeks before he is back on the floor at 100 percent.
"I feel very badly for Ben to be in a situation to start his career this way. But this is an injury that he should come back from and have a very successful and long career," said team president and general manager Bryan Colangelo.
Colangelo also noted that Simmons will not be "rushed back" to health as the team will make sure that the foot is completely restored before they let him step on the court.
Rumors have emerged that Simmons' weight gain of 33 pounds since he was drafted in June may be the cause of the injury, but CBS Sports indicated that the "fracture was caused by contact, not stress from the weight Simmons has added".
The report also noted that even if Simmons can indeed return in December or January, he would still need a few more months before getting into "NBA conditioning levels" as a Jones fracture "brings notoriously high rates of re-injury".
Former league MVP Kevin Durant suffered the same injury before the start of the 2014-2015 season. He missed the first 17 games of the said season before playing in December of 2014. Durant re-injured the foot in February 2015 and was officially ruled out of the season in March.
