Philadelphia 76ers star guard Ben Simmons left the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World to have surgery on his injured knee.
Simmons headed to the locker room on the August 5 game against the Washington Wizards midway through the third quarter because of an injury that was diagnosed as a subluxation of the left knee cap.
The 76ers sent the following statement:
“After consultation with the 76ers medical staff and several specialists, Ben Simmons will undergo surgery in the coming days to remove a loose body in his left knee.”
The Sixers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and they will face the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Ben Simmons, a talented and versatile weapon, will now miss the rest of the season. Simmons was averaging 16.4 points, 8.0 assists, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 35.4 minutes over 57 games this season.
“I feel for him,” 76ers head coach Brett Brown said. “We don’t know what ultimately is going to happen, but if people really understood, he hurt his back in a serious way in Milwaukee, and to go through everything that he’s been through, he looks physically different than what he did in March.
He really has worked physically to come back stronger. To get his back rehab, to have a cardio base, to have a physical condition, he had to have done a lot for me to have seen what I’ve seen so I feel bad for him that this situation has happened after all of the hard work that he’s put in.”
Philadelphia moved Simmons to the power forward spot for the NBA restart and now their offensive focus will turn to their star center Joel Embiid.
76ers Starting Lineup Without Ben Simmons
C: Joel Embiid
PF: Al Horford
SF: Tobias Harris
SG: Josh Richardson
PG: Shake Milton
Not having Ben Simmons (plus-2.3 Defensive Box Plus/Minus) will make the 76ers suffer significantly on defense.
As for their offense, without Simmons (plus-1.2 Offensive Box Plus/Minus), the team will possibly surround Embiid with shooters, hoping that he can have enough room to operate around the basket.
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