By Ben Sullivan
The Sixers are taking no chances with center Jahlil Okafor, who underwent knee surgery in March, and have limited his participation in the upcoming USA Men’s Select Team to non-contact activity and drills while training with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team this week in Las Vegas.
Okafor, whose recovery and return to play are on schedule, has been continuing his rehabilitation and performing limited basketball activities while taking classes this off-season at Duke University. He then resumed this practice regiment joining Sixers coaches and staff this past week in Las Vegas.
While the Sixers’ medical and sports science team feel Jahlil is fully healed, due to the workload associated with full-contact basketball, it was deemed appropriate to limit his participation to non-contact activities and drills for the upcoming USA Basketball mini-camp.
“Jahlil has been in the gym working hard and has made great strides in his recovery and return to action, but he’s simply not in the kind of basketball condition required to compete at this level of competition,” said Sixers big boss Bryan Colangelo. “Our sports science and medical team feels that holding him out of scrimmage situations is in everyone’s best interest at this point of the summer.”
