Nick Nurse shared his thoughts on the news that Jared McCain has a torn meniscus after Sixers practice.
The Sixers announced Thursday night that Jared McCain will stay on the sidelines for the rest of his rookie season.
The team released the following update on McCain, who suffered a left lateral meniscus tear on Dec. 13:
“Jared McCain was reviewed today by the surgeon who performed surgery on his left knee on Dec. 17. He is progressing well and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
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“Further updates on his progress will be provided as appropriate.”
The 15-20 Sixers have certainly felt McCain’s absence over the last several weeks, relying more on much older guards like Kyle Lowry, Reggie Jackson and Eric Gordon and asking Tyrese Maxey to play a very high volume of minutes.
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McCain was on the Wells Fargo Center floor (with a crutch) Monday to receive the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award he earned through outstanding early-season play. The 16th overall pick was often brilliant for the Sixers in shorthanded situations and ultimately averaged 15.3 points, 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds over 23 games.
“It’s a difficult one,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said on Dec. 15. “I think we’ve got to try to keep things long term, is what’s most important. How does this affect him going forward in his career, which we hope is many, many years? You never really get a chance to go back and win the Rookie of the Year award. That’s a major one to have. You get that thing and you have it for the rest of your life, that at one point in time you were the Rookie of the Year. It’s obviously a tough way to go out, not having that.
“But, keeping it in perspective, it’s a long career, hopefully, and we’ll just get him ready to go as soon as we can.”