Ben Simmons has surgery, no timetable for return

The Philadelphia 76ers confirmed rookie Ben Simmons sustained an acute Jones fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot and had surgery to repair it on Monday.

The injury happened Friday and the Sixers revealed at the time he sustained the fracture. The Jones fracture is newsworthy information. A Jones fracture – named after orthopedic surgeon Sir Robert Jones – is a serious fracture that occurs near the base of the fifth metatarsal, according to certified athletic trainer Jeff Stotts, who keeps a database of NBA injuries.

There is no timetable for his return.

“The fifth metatarsal serves as an anchor for sever muscles, including the muscles responsible foro moving the foot and outward as well as up and down,” Stotts wrote on his website instreetclothes.com. “Unfortunately, this makes the bone vulnerable to breaking when the ankle is forced inward., most commonly after making a hard cut or landing on the foot of another player.”

Stotts also wrote,  “To complicate things surgery does not guarantee a speedy recovery and the odds of a re-fracture are high, as (Kevin) Durant experienced first hand. … Problems following surgery generally are associated with the surgical hardware as it can bend, fail, or even break. Follow-up procedures are often utilized to address hardware-related problems, lengthening the time missed.”

Durant sustained a Jones fracture before the start of the 2014-15 season. He had three procedures on his right foot, played in just 27 games and did not finish the season. According to Stotts, one of every three NBA players to have surgery to repair a fractured metatarsal sustained a second fracture or needed another surgery.

Time missed varies. Brook Lopez has missed 100 games because of the injury, Glen Davis 48 games, Patty Mills 33 games and Mike Bibby 27 games, according to Stotts.