Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons has yet to suit up for the team since suffering a Jones fracture in his right foot at the end of training camp in September. He had surgery in October and while the normal recovery time is 2-3 months, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported earlier on Thursday that a January 23 scan showed Simmons' foot had not fully healed. That's a bit of a head-scratcher considering Bryan Colangelo said that the scan was clean in an official Sixers.com story on January 24.
Meanwhile, just a few short hours after Pompey's report today, the Sixers released a statement from Colangelo regarding Simmons' injury and the teams' approach to his recovery.
We continue to monitor the recovery of Ben's injury and are employing a conservative and thoughtful approach to his rehabilitative program, basing his return to full basketball activity on the advice and direction of medical professionals. His next CT scan is scheduled for February 23, after which our medical team will thoroughly review and evaluate his status moving forward. Ben's long-term health remains our primary concern.
This is quite a different response to the recovery from Colangelo's comments at the end of January:
The results of the scan, which Bryan Colangelo told Comcast SportsNet over the weekend he hopes will be the last one Simmons undergoes, were clean. All signs indicated the number one pick from this past year’s draft will be able to proceed with his comprehensive rehab regimen as planned, and move closer to towards returning.
As we continue to get misleading information from Colangelo, it's tough to believe at this point that Ben Simmons will play this season for the Sixers.
