Philadelphia 76ers: Is Ben Simmons' Season Over?

Philadelphia 76ers All-Star forward Ben Simmons will have to leave the NBA's bubble in Orlando, Florida, as soon as possible. As it turns out, the knee injury that didn't seem so serious at first will require surgery to be repaired.

Heading into Wednesday's game against the Washington Wizards, Simmons was fully healthy. Although he was coming off of a back injury, which he suffered back in February, Simmons hasn't experienced any setbacks since being in Orlando.

Unfortunately, the healthy streak ended this week. After coming down with the ball during the third quarter of the matchup against Washington, Simmons' awkward land caused a subluxation in his left kneecap. After maintaining possession of the ball, Simmons moved a few steps before passing the ball away.

Once the play was whistled dead, Simmons slowly walked off the court before heading back to the team's locker room. After getting checked out, Simmons was reportedly dealing with little pain and had no swelling on his knee.

Shortly after his initial test, Simmons had to exit the arena and get an MRI on his knee. Fortunately, Simmons didn't have to leave the bubble for his MRI. Therefore, if he were able to return, he wouldn't have to partake in a quarantine.

At first, Simmons' MRI results were promising as no structural damage was found in his knee. Eventually, he received his diagnosis, though, which kept him out of Friday's matchup against the Orlando Magic.

For the last few days, Simmons and the Sixers have been considering treatment options for his setback. A few medical experts suggested surgery could be avoided, but reports on Saturday indicated otherwise. Ben Simmons will leave the Orlando bubble and will have to get his knee surgically repaired.

Typically, knee surgery would rule a player out for the remainder of the year at this point, but the Sixers won't do that with Simmons just yet. According to ESPN's NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, "it would take a deep run into the playoffs to keep the door open on the possibility of a return." 

And even if the Sixers manage to make a deep playoff run this season, the chances of Simmons coming back and playing are still "iffy" as Wojnarowski reported. The chances of Simmons seeing the court again for the Sixers at any point during the 2020 NBA Playoffs are slim -- but Philly isn't ready to rule him out for good just yet.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_