Australian basketball star Ben Simmons will have surgery on his broken foot next week and is expected to be sidelined for three months.
The Philadelphia 76ers' No.1 NBA draft pick landed on the foot of teammate Shawn Long during a training session on Friday and sustained an acute fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone.
ESPN is reporting that Simmons will miss three months with the 76ers opening their NBA season against Oklahoma on October 26.
Simmons, 20, is the 76ers' top overall pick since Allen Iverson in 1996.
An injury to a high draft pick is nothing new for star-crossed Philadelphia, which has seen Nerlens Noel sit out his entire rookie season in 2013-14 with a torn ACL. Noel was the third overall pick of the 2013 draft.
Joel Embiid, who was also selected third overall in 2014, has yet to play in an NBA game following multiple surgeries on his right foot. Jahlil Okafor, also chosen third in the 2015 draft, sustained a season-ending knee injury after playing in 53 games.
The Sixers begin their pre-season schedule against the Boston Celtics in Amherst, Mass., on Tuesday. Coach Brett Brown said both Embiid and Okafor will play in the game.
