One of the bright spots for the Philadelphia 76ers this season has been the play of star rookie Jahlil Okafor. The No. 3 pick in the 2015 Draft, Okafor has been a monster in his first year in the Association, averaging a team-high 17.5 points per game. Okafor’s 7.0 rebounds per game are second on the team, and his 1.15 blocks per game are third.
Unfortunately, Okafor’s rookie campaign is over. The Sixers announced on Friday that Okafor has to get a procedure done on his right knee due to a torn meniscus. This means Okafor will not be able to participate in any basketball-related activities for six weeks.
Always the optimist, Sixers coach Brett Brown managed to turn this into a positive. Via USA Today:
“You do sort of take a deep breath and say that’s not terrible, that’s not bad,” coach Brett Brown said of the meniscus injury. “The flip side of it is, other people will play more.
Brown also noted that Okafor has had issues with that knee all year. Soreness in Okafor’s right knee kept him out of two preseason games and cost him another two games in December. However, Brown said that the team examined his knee in December and “it wasn’t anything that we felt we needed to react on other than the way that we did.”
Friday was a tough day for Philly with regards to injuries. In addition to Okafor getting shut down, Robert Covington had to get stretched off of the court after getting kicked in the face.
