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According to John Gonzalez of The Ringer, Philadelphia 76ers rookie, Zhaire Smith is in danger of missing the entire 2018-19 regular season.
Several reports stemming from the November 9 background briefing mentioned that Smith had “lost weight” over the past month and a half, but I was told that he lost “upward of 20 pounds.” For someone who’s listed at 199 pounds on the team website, that’s significant. As is the difference between Smith not playing in 2018, as reported, and “being in danger” of not playing at all this season, which is how it was explained to me. I was also told that he had more than one procedure to address the issue, which is evidently what the Sixers meant by the fuzzy “additional medical treatment” line.
It was reported that Smith had a bad allergic reaction that made him lose 20 pounds. The team sources said that they were unaware that Smith had a sesame allergy, and he may have eaten something in the facility with sesame. Smith underwent a thoracoscopy to try and rectify this issue.
#Sixers Zhaire Smith update below: additionally per team source Zhaire will not return during the 2018 calendar year. pic.twitter.com/OzF9EefXho
— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) November 10, 2018
Zhaire was expected to come back around December because of a Jones fracture on his left foot he had suffered that required surgery this past August. He will not be returning to the basketball court in 2018 and it’s unclear if he will be cleared to play the rest of the season
