#Ben Simmons’ knee injury could burst 76ers’ bubble

The Philadelphia 76ers will again be without All-Star Ben Simmons.

The team announced Thursday that Simmons would be sidelined indefinitely after his knee popped in-and-out of place during Wednesday’s 107-98 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Simmons suffered a subluxation of the patella, which means his kneecap popped out of place but returned on its own. The team said in a statement that Simmons was considering treatment options.

“This one stings, for sure,” 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters Thursday.

Brown also said that everyone should know more about the next steps for Simmons within 24 hours. Simmons, who’s been all All-Star the last two seasons and was the 2018 Rookie of the Year, is already ruled out for Friday’s game against the Orlando Magic.

Simmons was injured during the third quarter of Wednesday’s win after grabbing an offensive rebound. He dribbled to the corner in front of the Sixers’ bench and passed to Al Horford before whistle blew to stop play. Simmons could be seen flexing his left leg and touching the back of it before he walked off the court and into the team’s locker room.

Sixers general manager Elton Brand even checked in on Simmons, who was later shown on television walking gingerly out of the arena before the game ended.

“I don’t even remember [the injury] happening,” teammate Shake Milton told reporters. “I just remember him walking off to the sidelines. Yeah, it’s tough for us.

“Ben is an incredible player, an incredible athlete. … A super human. So hopefully he’s able to heal superfast and get back out on the court, because we need him.”

Brown asserted that big men Horford and Joel Embiid will be playing together on a more regular basis now.

Simmons suffered a back injury in the first quarter of a 76ers loss in Milwaukee in late February and wasn’t able to rejoin the lineup before the league was shut down in March. It was unclear whether he was going to be ready for the playoffs if they were on schedule.

“We all felt like, you know, with the [coronavirus] pandemic and are we going to play again, this obviously bought time for Ben,” Brown said. “And had the season kept going, it was anybody’s best guess.”