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 T’Wolves' Smith out with broken foot
Posted: Tuesday September 21, 1999 06:32 PM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota Timberwolves forward Joe Smith will miss up to seven weeks after surgery on his left foot Tuesday. Smith fractured the foot in a pickup basketball game at UCLA last week. Team orthopedic surgeon David Fischer placed a screw in the broken bone in an operation at the Minneapolis Sports Medicine Center. Smith, a 6-foot-10 forward who signed a one-year deal to return to Minnesota this summer, is expected to be in a cast for a week and then begin rehabilitation. He's expected to miss all of training camp, which begins Oct. 1, but the team hopes he'll be ready for the season opener Nov. 5 against the Sacramento Kings in Tokyo. "We are disappointed that this happened to Joe after he worked so hard this summer," said Flip Saunders, the Wolves' coach and general manager. "We are encouraged that he will be back around the time we start the regular season." Smith, the No. 1 overall choice in the 1995 draft when he was selected by the Golden State Warriors, re-signed with the Wolves for one year and $2.2 million this summer. He was traded from the 76ers to the Wolves on Feb. 17, 1998, and signed with the Wolves as a free agent last year. Smith played 43 games for the Timberwolves last season, averaging 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He was ninth in the league in offensive rebounds with 3.6 per game.
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