One half of an exhibition into the season, and Philadelphia has already lost a guy for the season. Back up guard Pierre Jackson reportedly tore his Achilles in the first half following a collision near the scorer’s table. He had to be carried off the court by teammates Ronald Roberts and Ed Daniel.
While down, Jackson was banging in pain and holding his head as he screamed. It was clear he was significantly hurt. Word soon began to spread that it was an Achilles, which was confirmed by the Sixers twitter account. Bob Cooney tweeted that it was in fact a ruptured Achilles.
A tweet sent out by Jackson himself seemed to confirm the news, without directly saying it, as he asks fans to “pray for him.”
According to NBA writer Jack Fischer, the Sixers will cover the costs of his operation and rehab. Jackson did not have a guaranteed contract, so they were not required to do so.
After selecting him in the second round of last year’s draft, Philadelphia traded the Baylor product to New Orleans in the Nerlens Noel trade. They reacquired him during last week’s draft in exchange for second round selection Russ Smith. Jackson did not appear in the NBA last season, but he lit it up in the NBA developmental league. Playing for Idaho, he averaged 29 points per game and six assists per game. He brought that same scoring touch to the game today, scoring seven points in less than seven minutes of play.
You can see the video of Jackson getting injured here.
