Abercrombie Return Delayed

The New Zealand Breakers look certain to be without veteran Tom Abercrombie for the opening rounds of NBL23, as he recovers from a torn retina in his eye.

Abercrombie underwent successful surgery earlier this week, after copping an inadvertent poke in the eye from Brisbane star Aron Baynes during the Hungry Jack's NBL Blitz.

He was hopeful of a return within one to two weeks, but in a statement, the Breakers confirmed he now faced longer on the sidelines. 

"Captain Thomas Abercrombie’s eye surgery for a torn retina has been successful, but (his) recovery time could be longer than first anticipated," the statement said. 

"There was some suggestion that he could be back in just a week but now that optimism has been dashed."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The New Zealand Breakers are expecting Tom Abercrombie to be sidelined for at least 6 weeks after suffering a torn retina in his left eye, sources told ESPN. The team has already begun its search for an injury replacement.</p>&mdash; Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) <a href="https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc/status/1572855231272333318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While the news is a blow for Abercrombie and the Breakers, there were initial fears of a three-month spell out of the game when the injury first occured, which have since been allayed.