Robert Covington Takes Important Step in Returning to Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers were joined by Robert Covington on Sunday.

Mar 27, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington practices / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

It turns out that Joel Embiid was not the only surprising guest with the Philadelphia 76ers on their two-game road trip this weekend.

In addition to the injured All-Star big man, the Sixers were joined by their veteran wing, Robert Covington, who has been battling a knee injury for a large chunk of the year.

The last time the Sixers saw Covington on the court was during a December 30 matchup against the Chicago Bulls. At the time, Covington checked in for under five minutes. His limited shift prevented him from having an impact on the outcome of what became a 13-point loss for Philadelphia.

When the Sixers returned to the court for their first game of 2024, Covington was inactive. That remained the case for the next few months.

Currently, the Sixers haven’t revealed a possible target date for Covington’s return. While 76ers head coach Nick Nurse expressed optimism about Covington’s chances of playing again during the regular season, the team hasn’t been able to confirm that much just yet.

On Sunday night, Covington took an important step towards returning to the Sixers’ rotation. As he traveled up North in Toronto to be with the team on Easter Sunday, Covington was spotted participating in a pregame workout. It was a rare sighting for the 33-year-old on the road.

Robert Covington is going through a pregame warm-up ahead of tonight’s game in Toronto. Positive step in his long recovery from a knee bone bruise. https://t.co/mLNl303Qs8 pic.twitter.com/L00b48kRe6

— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) March 31, 2024

At this point in the season, the Sixers have only a handful of games left on the schedule before they reach postseason play. Including Tuesday night’s outing against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sixers have seven outings remaining.

For Covington, that’s not a lot of time to get back into ideal basketball shape. However, the Sixers could use all the depth they can get as the games are becoming more meaningful down the stretch.

Since returning to the Sixers for a second stint, Covington has appeared in 26 games. He averaged 16 minutes on the floor during that stretch. Offensively, Covington drained 35 percent of his threes, putting up five points per game. Defensively, Covington continued to flashed solid value as his steals and deflections were a major plus for Philly’s second unit.

The Sixers are back on the court on Tuesday to take on the Thunder. Covington’s status is unclear at the moment.

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