AMHERST, Mass. -- Ben Simmons underwent surgery Tuesday morning to repair an acute Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, the Sixers announced
No timetable has been determined for Simmons’ return. The Sixers announced additional information pertaining to his recovery “will be provided as available and when appropriate.”
The injury took place last Friday on the final day of training camp. Simmons landed on the foot of Shawn Long during a scrimmage and rolled his ankle. The team previously had not defined the specifics of the fracture.
“We are obviously all disappointed this happened,” Colangelo said following practice on Sunday. “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.”
Dr. Martin O’Malley, Associate Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon and Fellowship Director of the Foot and Ankle Service at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, performed the surgery.
Sixers Chief Medical Officer and Co-Chief of Sports Medicine Orthopedics at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Jonathan Glashow, assisted with the procedure.
Dr. David T. Martin, Sixers Director of Performance Research and Development, will supervise Simmons’ rehab from the injury.
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"Our sports performance and medical staff was debriefed by Dr. O'Malley following the procedure, and we were encouraged by the positive feedback," Martin said in statement released by the team. "Moving forward, a comprehensive return to court program will be implemented for Ben, and we will closely monitor his progress throughout the rehabilitation process."
The Sixers will take a cautious approach to Simmons’ return, just as they have done with Joel Embiid (foot) and Jahlil Okafor (knee). Embiid missed the past two years, while Okafor’s workload is being monitored and he will not play in the Sixers preseason opener Tuesday night vs. the Celtics on the campus on the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
“In no way, shape or form are we going to rush him back,” Colangelo said Sunday. “This is a process that we will go through the same way we’ve handled other injury situations in the past. … We’re going to let the medical professionals dictate the course of action in terms of both rehabilitation, recovery and return to action.”
The Sixers will begin their season without their No. 1 draft pick. It is an unexpected absence, but one they will have to maneuver through, as they have before.
“There is nobody, sadly, that’s had more experience dealing with injured draft picks than we have,” Brown said Sunday.