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Sixers: Jahlil Okafor’s Knee Swelling Is Concerning For Many Reasons

By George Kondoleon

Mar 22, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) drives to the basket in front of Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter (11) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) drives to the basket in front of Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter (11) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sixers aren’t seeing much improvement on Jahlil Okafor’s knee condition that has forced him out of more than a handful of games.

It has been 370 days since Jahlil Okafor underwent what was called a “successful surgery” to repair a torn meniscus just 53 games into his NBA career. The Sixers were hopeful that the recovery would come quickly, but are still seeing the aftermath of the surgery.

Okafor sat out his ninth game of the year due to knee soreness, putting the handling of the surgery and rehab in question. His original timeline was supposed to be just six short weeks, allowing him to become fully healthy for his sophomore season. The rehab process went slower than expected, to say the least.

17 weeks later, Okafor was chosen to the U.S. Select Team where he participated in non-contact drills only. That’s nine weeks after his expected time table. Nine weeks. This is going from the team being cautious, to a concerning problem.

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This could be an answer to why the Sixers didn’t move Okafor. Simply because they couldn’t. His knee swelling is still a result of a surgery that happened over a year ago, and whether the rehab process wasn’t handled correctly by Okafor or the questioned medical staff somehow mishandled this, the Sixers are in the middle of a difficult situation.

Not only has Okafor played below-par, he has also struggled to stay on the court because of the swelling. The quest to raise his trade value is seeming more difficult with each passing day. And it seems more likely that the team re-evalutes how he can impact the team off the bench, seeing as there is an ever shrinking market for him.

There does come the question of, is Okafor more capable of producing than we’re seeing? This knee injury does give him an out in terms of poor play. But it also places more criticisms on the once promising center.

“I’m a complete prisoner to his body and medical news. We will react when the medical people tell me,” said Brett Brown to Philly.com of Okafor’s injury. It should be concerning that the medical team has yet to uncover on ongoing problem that has plagued a cornerstone draft pick for the franchise.

Okafor claims that the team is just being cautious with him, but if that were true they’d already know what the problem is. This seems more like not handling an easy situation more than being cautious.