Pacers forward Obi Toppin will undergo surgery to place a screw in the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot, head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters on Friday (Twitter links via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN).
According to Dopirak, Carlisle said not to ask about Toppin’s injury again until February 1, which suggests the high-flying ex-Dayton star will be sidelined for at least three months.
The Pacers announced (via Twitter) that Tobbin has been diagnosed with a partial stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal.
In perhaps the most optimistic way of viewing the news, Topping being sidelined for so long will theoretically give him more time to recover from a right hamstring strain, which was already expected to keep him out for at least a month. The fact that both injuries are on the same leg is clearly not ideal, however.
Toppin, the eighth overall pick of the 2020 draft, sustained the hamstring surgery in Sunday’s loss to Minnesota. That’s also when the foot fracture occurred, according to the team.
After an up-and-down first three seasons in New York, Toppin was traded to Indiana in July 2023 for a pair of second-round picks. He has become a rotation regular for the Pacers, and had been quite durable before these untimely injuries, only missing three combined games since the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
The Pacers have been hit hard by injuries this fall, with T.J. McConnell (hamstring strain), Kam Jones (lower back stress reaction), Bennedict Mathurin (right great toe sprain) and Andrew Nembhard (left shoulder strain) all missing time. And that doesn’t include Tyrese Haliburton, who will miss the entire season with a torn Achilles tendon.
Third-year forward Jarace Walker is most clear-cut candidate for more playing time with Toppin expected to miss a good chunk of the season. It’s a big opportunity for Walker, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.
what did indy do to deserve this from the basketball gods? hali injury caused them to lose gm 7 instead of completing the greatest run in nba history, and 1 wk into the season the majority of the tm is out for months. we talkin bout a small market tm nobody watches, nobody cares for, that for decades has hustled to find a way to win games against bigger, better, stronger, more popular tms like knicks, bulls, heat, lakers. who put a curse on the pacers and why? its like a blind man climbing mount everest and 10 feet away from reaching the top, a storm comes along and knocks him off the mountain
I feel u man. Gotta be devastating. I’m a bulls fan but was really rooting for yall those last three rounds and I still feel horrible about how it ended , can’t imagine what it’s like for the fanbase. Trust that yall can get back there , I’ll be pulling for them
i flew to okc for gm 7
wore my 90s reggie jersey
i saw the fire in hali’s eyes. he was not gonna let em lose
and then….
2 hours of misery. surrounded by 20000 screaming thunder fans
the whole city went wild
probly top 5 worst nites of my life.
i doubt they’ll ever have that opportunity again. it wasnt just the chance to win it all, which might never happen again bec they wont ever have the same tm, coaches. but it was the way they got there. all the miracle wins 1 after the other. guys might have 1 buzzer beating game winner in the playoffs. hali had 1 in every single round against every single team. that will definitely never happen again.
sports tms win every year and usually they are forgotten. but the special ones. tom brady beating the rams in 2001. red sox winning in 2004. i just wanted indy to be remembered. but now. SGA is on the cover of all the video games, doing all the commercials. nobody will ever give a 2nd thought to the 2025 pacers. the greatest nba champion that never was.
I love how you keep calling it “the greatest run in NBA history”
It’s time to tank and regroup for the next season
We’ll probably go into tank mode now. Just play out the season and get a lottery pick for next year.
Good lottery yr lol.
Obi1 —- just get well bro.
So when will Pacers start the Tank !!!!!!
Pacers had the most wins in the NBA from Jan 1 2025 to end of season. Since Hali’s injury it just goes from bad to worse. No shot Toppin comes back this year. That’s a really serious procedure with a massive amount of rehab.