76ers’ top pick Simmons to sit out remainder of season as foot injury not fully healed
>> NEW YORK: Australian playmaker Ben Simmons, the No.1 overall pick in last year’s NBA draft, has been officially ruled out for the remainder of what would have been his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers with a broken foot.
Simmons is “heartbroken” over the news that the injury to his right foot has not fully healed, 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo said in making the announcement on Friday.
“I have always known that there was a desire to get him back on the court when healthy,” Colangelo added.
“We’ve always anticipated there would be an opportunity for him to play, hopefully this season.
“But there was always the outside chance that it didn’t happen because there wasn’t complete and full healing. And we weren’t going to put Ben Simmons in a place where he was [susceptible] to a re-fracture.
“He’s heartbroken. He wants to play. He wants to be out there. It’s eating him alive, I’m sure.”
Simmons fractured his foot on Sept 30, the final day of pre-season training camp. He underwent surgery in October to repair an acute Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot.
The Sixers said his latest scan taken on Thursday showed the injury was not healing as expected.
The 20-year-old Simmons has not appeared in a regular-season game. He has taken part in on-court practice drills but not scrimmages.
At 21-35 with 26 games remaining the 76ers are 13th in the Eastern Conference and six games behind Detroit for the last play-off spot.
COWARD MOVE
Meanwhile, All-Star centre DeMarcus Cousins branded the Sacramento Kings’ handling of his trade to the New Orleans Pelicans as “a coward move” in an interview published on Friday.
Cousins vented his frustration on The Undefeated website, saying he had no interest in talking to Kings owner Vivek Ranadive or general manager Vlade Divac about why the team didn’t make good on a promise not to trade him.
“Nah. For what? It was a coward move, so I’m pretty sure I will get a coward response,” said Cousins, who was traded on Monday, just a day after playing in the All Star game.
“For what? And I’ve seen this happen before... I was there with [coach] Mike Malone’s [firing in 2014]. I’ve seen how they operate. I know what kind of answer I will get anyway. So, what is the point?”
Cousins indicated he felt betrayed by Divac, who visited the player’s home and told him he wouldn’t be traded as they discussed ways to improve the team.
“The sick part about it is that Vlade came in my house with my agent,” Cousins said.
“We sat in my theater and just talked. That was maybe three weeks ago. We sat there and [he] told me what moves he wanted to make. All of that. I just didn’t understand.
“I got a text from the owner right before I went to All-Star [Game]. He was asking me about a player, how I felt about him and making a move. The owner! When it happened, I was just in shock. I didn’t understand.”