Tobias Harris Reveals Surprising Details on Recent Shoulder Injury

This year, Philadelphia 76ers veteran forward Tobias Harris has struggled with his shot. Coming off of a season where he averaged nearly 40-percent from three, Harris has seen that number take a significant dip through his first 31 games of the 2021-2022 NBA season.

Nearly halfway through the season, Harris is shooting less than 30-percent from beyond the arc. Earlier in the year, Harris' lack of consistent availability seemed to play a part in his recent struggles as his trend of absences made it difficult for him to find a rhythm.

While the veteran forward has been seemingly healthy and available lately as he's played in 17-straight games and hasn't missed consecutive outings since late November, it's recently been revealed that's not necessarily the case.

On Tuesday night, the Sixers released their early injury report ahead of their Wednesday night matchup against the Charlotte Hornets. While the report had a few expected names on it, Harris was a new addition.

Although Harris was listed as probable as he was likely to play, it was unclear where his sudden shoulder pain was coming from. As it turns out, Harris' pain is anything but sudden as the lingering soreness caused him to get an MRI following Monday's game against the Houston Rockets.

The Latest on Harris' Situation

Leading up to Philadelphia's Wednesday night matchup, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported that Tobias Harris is dealing with tendinitis in his right shoulder. While the pain is there, Haynes made it apparent that Harris was not expected to miss any time.

Sure enough, the Sixers cleared Harris for action a couple of hours before tip-off. 

Harris checked in for 36 minutes on Wednesday night. He drained 43-percent of his shots for 17 points. After the game, the veteran discussed his setback and revealed it's not exactly a recent occurrence as he banged up his shoulder during Philadelphia's November 16 matchup against the Jazz.

“It happened earlier in the season when we were on the road in Utah,” said Harris. “I’ve been kinda monitoring it. It’s one of those things that I feel every single day since then, but the pain is doable enough to play with."

While Harris will play through the pain, it seems the soreness isn't going to go away anytime soon. Therefore, he could explore other treatment options in the future to make sure he gets his body right without missing any games right now.

"When the time is right, I’ll probably look into some things to do for that," Harris finished. "Right now, I can manage through it. It’s been re-aggravated in numerous games. It’s not like make or break, it’s just irritating pain. More so if someone hits it or after a night’s sleep is where I feel it the most.”

As Harris was left off the injury report ahead of Friday night's game against the Boston Celtics, the veteran forward is good to go. However, just because he's playing, doesn't mean the pain will be going away anytime soon.

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