Further look confirms it: Claxton gone for season

This article was published in the Inquirer on October 24, 2000.

A lengthy examination and an MRI confirmed that rookie Speedy Claxton would miss the entire 2000-2001 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, the 76ers announced yesterday.

Team physician Jack McPhilemy had made the original diagnosis shortly after the point guard was hurt with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half of Sunday's preseason game against the Utah Jazz at the First Union Center.

The injury was not a result of contact. It was described by both McPhilemy and Sixers coach Larry Brown as something that just happens in basketball.

A date for surgery has not been set.

"The MRI pretty clearly confirmed the fact that he has a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament," McPhilemy said in a statement. "He does not appear to have any evidence of damage to the meniscus, but he does have some injury to the lateral collateral ligament and the lateral capsule area.

"For that reason. we've decided to recommend at this point a couple of more days of observation and doing some exercises and application of ice to keep the swelling down.

"We'll reevaluate Speedy over the course of the next couple of days. He will have surgery, but the exact date at this point has not yet been determined. "

General manager Billy King said that the Sixers were looking outside their organization for possible replacements for Claxton. He said that they also were considering the option of keeping either Jermaine Jackson, a free-agent acquisition, or Pepe Sanchez, an undrafted former Temple standout.

"We still have seven or eight days [to make a decision]," Brown said. "And [Pepe] is making a lot of progress. Him and Jermaine have an opportunity. Whether either of them can seize that opportunity remains to be seen. "