The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to be without Kelly Oubre Jr. for at least a couple weeks after he suffered a fractured rib. The cause of Oubre's injury was rather unique by NBA standards — he was allegedly hit by a car in downtown Philadelphia. The vehicle fled the scene and Oubre was later transported to a local hospital.
Oubre began the season at a torrid pace for the Sixers, averaging 16.3 points and 5.1 rebounds on .500/.378/.786 splits in 29.0 minutes. He started five of eight games, promptly taking over for P.J. Tucker following the James Harden trade. The Kansas product appeared well on his way to a resurgent campaign following a difficult free agency period, but now he's working his way back from an unforeseen and potentially traumatic injury.
The details of the Oubre case have gotten a bit strange over the last week, so here's a brief explainer of what occurred.
76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. hit-and-run incident, explained
Oubre was allegedly struck by a car on Saturday night, Nov. 11, at 7:20 p.m. ET.
The 27-year-old told police the incident occurred on the corner of Spruce Street and Hicks Street in Philadelphia's Center City. The original report stated that Oubre was "walking near his residence" when a silver vehicle hit him at a "high rate of speed."
Several members of the Sixers organization, including team president Daryl Morey, went to the hospital that night to support Oubre.
Now, a few new twists have emerged after TMZ acquired Ring doorbell footage from Oubre's apartment. There's no need to embed footage from inside Oubre's home, but it did reveal pertinent information about the case.
Oubre is seen entering his home with a bike, clearly in pain. He expresses to his wife, Shylynn, that he "got hit by a car." She reportedly called 911 shortly afterward and Oubre was transported to the hospital.
The police have not found video evidence of a hit-and-run at the location Oubre identified, but it's worth noting that Oubre is new to Philadelphia and he probably doesn't have encyclopedic knowledge of the city's streets. In addition to a fractured rib, Oubre suffered undisclosed injures to his hip and leg.
When confronted with potential discrepnsies in Oubre's story, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse stood behind his player.
"Listen, I don't think it's very fair to him to say that he's made up some story. He's one of our players, and we're going to stand behind him. So am I."
Here is the official police report, from USA Today.
"Unit #2 (pedestrian, 27/M) was walking westbound on 1400 Spruce St. crossing Hicks St. when Unit # 1 (Silver vehicle, NFI) was also traveling westbound on 1400 Spruce St. at a high rate of speed and attempted to turn south onto Hicks St. striking Unit #2, in the upper chest area with the driver side mirror. Unit #1 then fled the location south on Hicks St. PFD Medics responded to the scene and transported the pedestrian to Jefferson Hospital in stable condition with a broken rib and injuries to his hip and right leg."
The general evidence points toward Oubre being hit by a car — either on his bike or walking with it — and walking home, where authorities were notified. It's pointless to speculate about what may or may not have occurred beyond the facts and statements reported.
Philadelphia received promising news on the Oubre front Thursday, when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the wing could return "in around 'two-plus weeks,'" with Oubre already putting in "light work" at the Sixers' practice facility.
