Kelly Oubre Jr. Injury Update
Kelly Oubre Jr. is still out for the Philadelphia 76ers with a sprained LCL in his left knee, but he has returned to on-court workouts and is inching closer to a comeback, even though the team hasn’t given a firm return date yet. The injury goes back to November 14 against the Detroit Pistons, when he hyperextended his left knee and later scans confirmed a lateral collateral ligament sprain, the kind of diagnosis that sounds scary at first but usually points to weeks, not months, if the rehab goes smoothly.
Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) shared on X the injury report for tomorrow’s game against the Nets, confirming that Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) will both be out.
Since then, Oubre has missed more than a dozen games, and the Sixers have gone from “re-evaluated in two weeks” to “out at least one more week,” the sort of slow, incremental timeline fans know too well from modern NBA injury reports.
The more encouraging part of this Kelly Oubre Jr injury update is how the recent reports describe his progress: he’s now doing harder individual on-court sessions, which head coach Nick Nurse has called his most intense work since the injury, and local coverage has framed it as the first real step toward an eventual return rather than just light rehab.
Official listings from league and team outlets still have him ruled out for games like the Nets matchup and mark his status simply as “out – knee,” so this is very much a situation where the medical staff is letting the ligament and surrounding muscles fully settle before throwing him back into full contact. Anyone who watched his early-season workload, heavy minutes, constant defensive assignments, and a big scoring role can understand why the Sixers are being careful; an LCL sprain on a wing who cuts and slides that much is not something to rush just to win one random December game.
NBA Fantasy Bible (@NBAFantasyBible) reported on X that Kelly Oubre Jr. is expected to be out for at least two weeks, advising fantasy managers to stash him on IR/IL if possible.
From a role perspective, there’s an interesting wrinkle baked into every new Kelly Oubre Jr injury update coming out of Philly. When he does come back, several analysts now expect him to shift into a sixth-man, energy-scoring role off the bench instead of sliding straight back into the starting lineup.
In his first 12 games before the injury, Oubre was quietly putting up one of the most efficient stretches of his career, around 16–17 points per game on career-best true shooting, plus solid rebounding and feisty perimeter defense, which is exactly the profile of a weapon who can tilt second units when dropped into a bench-heavy lineup. Since he went down, other forwards have stepped up, the Sixers’ defensive rating has climbed, and that makes the idea of Oubre as a high-usage, instant-offense option off the bench feel less like a demotion and more like a way to keep him fresh, protect the knee, and still let him be the wild-card scorer fans enjoyed before the sprain.
The emotional side of this whole stretch has been noticeable too; Oubre has talked about how tough it is to sit and watch, calling the process slow and emphasizing that he’s trying not to “play with Mother Nature,” just letting the body heal while grinding through daily strength work. Oubre remains out in late December, progressing, doing harder workouts, and trending in the right direction — but until the team upgrades him from “out” to at least “questionable,” this comeback is more “getting close” than “circle a specific date on the calendar.
Disclaimer
This Kelly Oubre Jr. injury update is for general information and fan discussion only. It is not medical, betting, or fantasy advice. Game status, recovery timelines, and roles can change quickly, so always check official team announcements and trusted news outlets before making decisions based on this information.
