Kelly Oubre Jr. set to return Wednesday, talks incident that left him injured, road back
Wednesday night against the Wizards, and for the first time since Nov. 11, Kelly Oubre Jr. will retake the court
for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Oubre has missed 11 games recovering from a broken rib that he and team officials have said happened when Oubre was a pedestrian struck by a moving vehicle in his neighborhood. The police are still investigating but reportedly have not found video footage from surveillance cameras in the area where Oubre was struck. That led to a lot of online speculation. Citing the ongoing investigation Oubre would not get into the details of the incident, but did say the "conspiracy theorists" out there caused pain to him and his family. Quotes via NBC Sports Philadephia:
"This was and is a very traumatic situation for me and my family," he said. "I just wish that my life wasn't like 'The Truman Show,' where everybody can kind of watch it and have their own opinion about my life. This is very hard for us to have to deal with … and for me to miss being on the court, which keeps me sane. A lot of people are very inconsiderate and insensitive to try to worry about video cameras and s***. It's something that happened in my life and is very detrimental to me, missing time in my job. So I'm just really blessed that it wasn't worse than what it is, and that I'm able to come back to work, smile, walk and talk and breathe.
"That's what I have to say about the conspiracy theories. And I love 'em, too. I sit there in my downtime and look at them. But not with my life, bro. It's too serious.”
Oubre said he was excited to be back on the court — and the 76ers could use him and his shot creation. Oubre was playing some of the best basketball of his career, averaging 16.3 points and 5.1 rebounds a game before the injury, and had been moved into the starting lineup. The Sixers were 7-1 with him playing.
Coach Nick Nurse will likely ease Oubre back into the rotation, but it will be good to see him back on the court after a situation that could have ended much worse.
