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Dave McMenamin
PHILADELPHIA — Despite his season having been cut short because of left knee surgery, 76ers rookie Jared McCain had reason to smile Tuesday.
The Sixers guard was selected for the Rising Stars Challenge, earning one of 10 rookie roster spots to play against a pool of players in their sophomore season and from the G League at NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco next month.
“It’s obviously been one of my goals to be in that game, and I didn’t know if I was eligible or not to even be in it,” said McCain, who was surprised by the news when his agent texted him a photo of the roster. “But it was really cool to be named that in the games I was played in.”
McCain, selected by Philadelphia with the No. 16 pick out of Duke, averaged 15.3 points on 46% shooting (38.3% from 3) and 2.6 assists in 23 games before suffering a torn meniscus Dec. 13 against the Indiana Pacers.
He underwent surgery Dec. 17 and was ruled out for the rest of the season after being seen by team doctors on Jan. 9, officially ending a promising rookie campaign for the 20-year-old who earned Eastern Conference rookie of the month honors for November.
Using a cane to support himself up a few stairs to the podium for a pregame news conference Tuesday and speaking to reporters for the first time since the surgery, McCain detailed the injury, saying he originally believed he could have hurt his head after falling to the floor against Indiana. After he cleared a concussion test, he went back in the game, and he said his knee was hurting and “it kind of felt weird.”
When his knee swelled up overnight and he was limping the next day, he notified Sixers medical staff, and an MRI was schedule. His agent called him with the results: a tear of the lateral meniscus in his left knee, which would require surgery to repair.
“I started crying,” McCain said. “It was very tough to hear how long I’d be out for and to know I’ve worked so hard to be in the NBA and now it just gets taken away from me so quick. So, it was tough, especially that night. … Luckily, I’m good now and I got a little cane with me, so taking it step by step.”
McCain said Sixers star Joel Embiid, who was sidelined his first two seasons in the NBA because of injuries, was quick to FaceTime him and check in after his surgery.
“He wanted to just know what I was doing, what really had happened, and just told me kind of how to get through it and just help me with that,” McCain said. “So it was really cool to hear from him.”
McCain said he has been filling his free time by brushing up on his Spanish and learning how to play the piano. He also has been using daily mental exercises.
“I do my journal. I now meditate for longer. I visualize for longer visualizing a healthy knee,” McCain said. “I made a new goal board and then I usually go into my reading.”
McCain, whose rehabilitation has been limited to walking on an altered-gravity treadmill thus far, said he was unsure whether he would attend the Rising Stars game.
“Just taking it super slow,” he said. “Definitely don’t want anything to happen. And knowing it is going to be a full recovery, just keeping that in mind.”