Report: Jahlil Okafor To Have Surgery On Tuesday

Sixers’ center Jahlil Okafor will have surgery to on Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. | Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

According a report from Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, Sixers’ rookie Jahlil Okafor has scheduled surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee for Tuesday.

Injuries, first to his shin, then the current knee injury, have caused Okafor to miss the last 10 games for the Sixers. He last last appeared in a 130-116 loss to the Orlando Magic on February 28th.

The surgery, which has a recovery timeline of approximately six weeks, will cause Okafor to miss the remainder of his rookie season.

Okafor finished his rookie campaign with averages of 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. He currently ranks second among rookies in scoring, trailing only Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, who is averaging 17.9 points per game on the season. Only 8 rookies in the last 10 years have eclipsed Okafor’s per-game scoring average.

Okafor became the first 76ers rookie to average at least 17 points and 7 rebounds per game, and just the third Sixers’ rookie to reach the 17 points-per-game mark, following Jerry Stackhouse (19.2 points per game in 1995-96) and Allen Iverson (23.5 in 1996-97).

Derek Bodner covers the 76ers for Philadelphia magazine. Follow @DerekBodnerNBA on Twitter.