NBA

Pacers’ Obi Toppin To Undergo Foot Surgery, Out At Least 3 Months

Indiana Pacers Obi Toppin To Undergo Foot Surgery, Out At Least 3 Months

Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin will undergo surgery to repair a partial stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, the team announced Friday.

Obi Toppin Sidelined With Hamstring, Foot Injuries

Toppin was already expected to miss at least a month because of a right hamstring strain. His recovery timeline for the right foot injury is at least three months, as the 27-year-old will not be practicing until early next year.

“Probably not recommend talking about this again until probably Feb. 1, [in] three months. That’s his situation,” coach Rick Carlisle said before Indiana’s 128-108 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

Toppin was limited to 17 minutes during last Sunday’s loss at Minnesota before exiting. He averaged 14 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in three games off the bench before sitting out a 107-105 loss to Dallas on Wednesday.


In Indiana’s 141-135 double-overtime loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 23, he recorded 20 points on 8-of-18 (44.4%) shooting from the field in 39 minutes of action, despite missing all eight 3-point attempts.

Toppin was selected No. 8 overall in the 2020 draft out of Dayton. The 6-foot-9 wing played at least 60 games in each of his first five seasons.

The first three seasons were with the New York Knicks before an offseason trade in 2023.

Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell Remain Out For Pacers

The Pacers already have several other injured players.

Entering the season, Indiana was prepared to be without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and backup T.J. McConnell, who was expected to miss the first month due to a left hamstring strain.

Bennedict Mathurin is also now week-to-week with a right big toe sprain, and fellow starting guard Andrew Nembhard has a left shoulder strain.

Other players to miss Indiana’s matchup with Atlanta on Friday were reserves Johnny Furphy (left foot bone bruise) and Kam Jones (lower back stress reaction).

With Toppin out, the Pacers will likely turn to third-year forward Jarace Walker. The 22-year-old averaged 6.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 75 games (five starts) with Indiana last season.

Walker will also be eligible for a rookie-scale extension in the offseason.

The Pacers continue their four-game homestand on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors. Indiana is seeking its first win of the season after dropping the past five games.