Philadelphia 76ers rookie forward Ben Simmons broke his right foot foot in practice Friday and the team gave no indication of how long he will be out of action.
The Sixers said in a statement that Simmons, the No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft, suffered a fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone of his right foot.
Simmons rolled his right ankle during the final scrimmage of the team's training camp at Stockton University.
The Sixers open the preseason against Boston Tuesday. Brown said at practice that both Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor will play in that game.
Simmons impressed coaches and teammates with his passing skills in both the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues and has worked vigorously on his body to build it to a now-sculpted 250-pounds. During training camp, which concluded Friday, Simmons was equally impressive, according to coaches and players. Coach Brett Brown seemed to have fun using the 6-10 Simmons at almost every position, most notably at point guard.
"He's playing for the first time against men," Brown of Simmons earlier this week, before the injury. "I think where he can control his own destiny the soonest and the easiest, is by locking into defense. He is physically gifted. He's 6-10, 245 pounds with a real bounce to his game. I try to say that and sell that to Ben and he embraces that. We're going to turn him loose in open court. He's going to rebound and lead breaks. We'll give him the ball in some situations."
The excitement surround the top overall pick in June's draft certainly appears warranted. Watching to see if it is all reasonable is now going to have to wait for a while due to injury.
And if the fan base, and organization, is running low in patience, it is understandable. Nerlens Noel sat out his first full season while recovering from a torn ACL, though he seemed to think he was able to play towards the end of the sason. Embiid will make his NBA debut on Tuesday after missing the first two seasons of his career due to a foot injury, and Dario Saric is with the team after spending two seasons playing in Turkey after the team secured his rights in the 2014 draft.
