A balky right knee may mean Sixers center Jahlil Okafor won’t play again this season, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Okafor will miss his second straight game today with soreness in the knee, and the team isn’t sure when he might be able to return. He said the Sixers are being “super cautious” about letting him back on the court.
“If we were like on the verge of trying to get a playoff spot or something like that, I could go out there and play,” Okafor said Friday. “But coach [Brett] Brown and all of our people behind the scenes don’t believe it’s necessary for me to play if my knee is feeling sore and stuff like that. It’s pretty much how they’ve been since I’ve been a Sixer.”
Brown said he will continue to determine Okafor’s status based on reports from team doctors.
Soreness has been a problem for Okafor since a surgical procedure March 22, 2016, to fix a torn meniscus in the knee. The pain flared up in a game last Sunday, and he wasn’t used after halftime. He played Wednesday against Oklahoma City, but was hit in the knee and was held out of Friday’s game.
Okafor appeared in just 53 games last year before surgery. He is at 50 this season and his averages in scoring, rebounding and minutes played have all dropped sharply from a year ago.
One option for Philadelphia is to shut down Okafor for the rest of the season. At 27-45, the Sixers are far out of the playoff race and are tied for sixth in our latest Reverse Standings.
I don’t know who the doctors are, but they need to all be fired. Anyone that’s had a hand in Andrew Bynum, Embiid, Okafor, or Simmons needs to exit the building. And anyone associated with the Suns, bring those guys in. I heard they’re like shaman status.
He’s been uncertain since he’s been drafted. And our medical staff is awful. Thanks NBA for forcing the Colangelos on us.
As long as everyone is still drinking that “trust the process” kool-aid
Maybe Vlad Divac will join them. “I got a better offer from a team two days ago, but oh wait I can’t talk about that”