While Ben Simmons' right foot injury turned out to be a Jones fracture, requiring surgery, the prognosis is still good, according to Dr. Mark Schwartz.
When first reports of Simmons' injury came out last Friday after the Sixers' point-forward rolled his ankle during the final day of training camp, Schwartz, an orthopedic surgeon, said the more optimal injury would have been a fracture to the base of the fifth metatarsal (see story), which doesn't require surgery and takes six to eight weeks for recovery.
The Jones fracture usually requires three to four months of recovery in addition to surgery, Schwartz said. Simmons underwent surgery on his right foot Tuesday.
"The prognosis for this fracture is very good," Schwartz said Wednesday as a guest on TCN's Breakfast on Broad. "It's about a 95 percent healing rate with surgery.
"What the surgery involves is basically making an incision at the base of the metatarsal and, through a small hole, drill up the canal and then insert a surgical screw, like this one, to get compreession of the fracture and to get it to heal."
The injury may remind some Sixers fans of Joel Embiid's foot injury, which kept the 2014 No. 3 draft pick out for his first two NBA seasons, but Schwartz said they are very different. Embiid suffered a fracture of the tarsal navicular bone, which is located near the top and inside of the foot. Simmons' injury is located on the outside of the foot.
"Embiid's injury was the tarsal navicular bone, which is on the inside part of the foot and it's really the top of the arch," Schwartz said. "Blood supply to this bone is not nearly as good. The prognosis is never as good, so this is a bird of a different feather that Ben Simmons has."
NBA
Schwartz also referenced a study done that looked at NBA players from 1994-2013 with the same injury as Simmons. The study suggests a promising return for the Sixers' No. 1 overall pick. Out of 26 NBA players with Jones fractures of the fifth metatarsal, 85 percent returned to their pre-injury levels.
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant played in only 27 games during the 2014-15 season after he went down with a Jones fracture. Durant came back to average 28.2 points per game in 72 games last season.
"The four players that didn't go back to play, we don't know whether it was due to the fracture or due to the fact that maybe it was at a later part of their career," Schwartz said.
For more from Schwartz, watch the video above.