NBA notes: 76ers center Joel Embiid to have surgery on finger
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will have surgery Friday for a torn ligament in a finger on his left hand and will be evaluated in one to two weeks.
“All of a sudden, we’re different,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “We’re just different. I look at this as an opportunity. Nobody’s crying. This is not a ‘woe is me’ moment, not for me, at all. And not for my players. We’ll take what we have, and what we have, I love.”
Embiid injured the radial collateral ligament in the ring finger in the first half Monday night against Oklahoma City. Embiid’s overlapped his pinkie to the point that it seemed he had his fingers crossed. He played most of the game with his finger taped and said he “couldn’t go up with two hands.“
Embiid has struggled with injuries ever since he was drafted with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2014. He missed his first two seasons with various injuries and hasn’t played more than 64 games in any of the last three. He is averaging 23.4 points and 12.3 rebounds in 31 games this season.
Al Horford, signed away from the Celtics in the offseason with a four-year deal, started at center Thursday against the Boston Celtics.
In other NBA news:
— Justin Arnold, 22 of Everett, Mass., was arrested and escorted out of TD Garden after throwing a can of hard seltzer onto the court near the San Antonio Spurs bench during Wednesday night, was charged with disturbing a public assembly Thursday. Arnold appeared to be intoxicated, police said in a statement. He was released on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty Thursday but was held briefly because of an alleged probation violation in an unrelated assault case.
— Former Oklahoma City Thunder player Enes Kanter plans to open a charter school in the metro area that focuses on serving low-income minority students and those from immigrant families with limited English-speaking abilities. Kanter, who currently plays for the Boston Celtics, notified Oklahoma City Public Schools of his intention to open the Enes Kanter School for Exceptional Learning, according to a letter first obtained by The Frontier.
Lakers forward LeBron James has surpassed Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as the top vote-getter in fan balloting for the NBA All-Star game.
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