Nerlens Noel hasn’t played an organized game of basketball since Feb. 12, 2013.
That’s the date he went down with a torn ACL in his left knee when Kentucky was playing Florida.
Now, almost a year and a half later, Noel will return to organized basketball when he starts Saturday in the Philadelphia 76ers’ first summer league game against the Orlando Magic in Orlando.
“Regardless, there’s going to be a lot of adrenaline,” Noel told the Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday after the Sixers’ final practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. “I know I’m going to have a lot of nerves, and be a little nervous, but more excitement.”
Lloyd Pierce, who will coach the team in Orlando, told the paper the franchise is managing expectations for Noel, who averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocks in 24 games as a senior at Kentucky.
“There’s no expectations on him,” Pierce said. “We want to see Nerlens be Nerlens. He’ll be fine. He’ll probably have some jitters in the first game, but we’ll try to make it simple and easy for him as well.”
Noel fell to No. 6 in the 2013 NBA Draft after the injury and then sat out all of last season as the Sixers tanked the campaign in the hopes of getting a top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
They ended up taking another injured big man in Kansas 7-footer Joel Embiid, whom coach Bill Self compared to a young Hakeem Olajuwon on draft night.
Noel’s advice to Embiid?
“You know, just stay positive – that’s the number-one thing,” Noel told the Inquirer. “Last year, there were times where I really wanted to get on the court. Like I felt great, I’d be in the weight room squatting 300 pounds, and I wanted to just get out there and be with my guys. You know it’s tough, just staying positive, staying patient [that] everything will be good in the end.”
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