NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams has undergone surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
One day after the former Syracuse star was presented the award, ProBasketballTalk.com reports the team deems the procedure a success and is hopeful he will be able to make a full recovery from an injury coaches and trainers insist they have no idea about the origin of.
Team officials now reveal Carter-Williams played through pain at various points of the season after being told he could not cause further damage to it. The 6-foot-6, 185 pound point-guard played in the team’s final 36 games without skipping a beat, averaging roughly 32 minutes a night.
“The health of our players is our primary concern,” Sixers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie said of the team’s decision for Carter-Williams to now have surgery. “There were a number of healthy discussions between Michael, our medical team, several medical specialists and Michael’s representatives. After careful consideration and thoughtful research, we collectively agreed that it was in Michael’s best interest to move forward with the procedure now and allow for maximum recovery time.”
As NBA bumps and bruises go, Carter-Williams’ injury is compared to the shoulder ailments suffered by Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard in 2013, neither of which required surgery. In his first season, Carter-Williams played in 70 games, averaging 16.7 points, 6.3 assists, and 1.9 steals.
But none of it was hardly enough for the Sixers, who finished the year with league’s second-worst record at 19-63. But help could soon be on the way, as Carter-Williams and the Sixers are projected to have two lottery range picks in a freshman driven 2014 draft that includes Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, Joel Embiid, and Tyler Ennis.
The Sixers are also expected to finally have the services of last year’s No.6 overall draft choice Nerlens Noels, who missed all of this season recuperating from a torn ACL injury he suffered while still at Kentucky.
