Philadelphia 76ers PF Dominick Barlow
© Bill Streicher/Imagn
If you’re a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, you know all about what it’s like to watch a player suffer a freak injury.
Former first-round draft pick Zhaire Smith spent six weeks at the hospital, where he was in and out of consciousness and at the mercy of a morphine drip to keep the pain down, after he was exposed to a lethal peanut allergy.
Then there’s Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, who seemingly just forgot how to shoot after suffering a shoulder injury that nobody knows the origin of, although rumors have swirled surrounding a pre-draft motorcycle accident.
Joel Embiid has, of course, had his own slew of injuries, while Ben Simmons left the organization while dealing with a back injury that, in part, led to what looks like the end of his NBA career.
So yeah, weird injuries are the norm in Philadelphia.
Enter Dominick Barlow.
Philadelphia 76ers Forward Dominick Barlow Suffers Strange Elbow Laceration
Who is Dominick Barlow?
That’s a great question and one that I, a Sixers fan, also asked just one month ago!
Barlow signed with the San Antonio Spurs as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He played 61 games combined over his first two NBA seasons, before playing a further 35 for the Atlanta Hawks in 2024-25.
This offseason, Barlow signed a two-way contract in Philadelphia and, due to a series of injuries (because, of course), found himself as the team’s opening-night starter against the Boston Celtics.
In that game, he far exceeded anybody’s expectations, turning in 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in a 117-116 win. In the Sixers second game of the season, Barlow was again playing well before he left the game in the second quarter with what the team called a laceration of his right elbow.
Nobody seemed to know what exactly Barlow cut his elbow on. But more than 10 days later, he still has not returned, and was spotted at 76ers’ practice on Friday sporting a massive elbow brace.
Here is the bandage / wrap on Dominick Barlow’s lacerated elbow. Barlow last played October 25th against the Hornets. pic.twitter.com/rk5KXw1CJB
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) November 7, 2025
Barlow is now set to meet with a surgeon early next week after missing both of Philadelphia’s games over the weekend, per PHLY’s Kyle Neubeck.
Neubeck also reported that the supposed laceration is right at the point where the elbow bends, meaning it has to be immobilized in order to heal.
This is, of course, the most Philadelphia 76ers thing that could possibly happen. Unfortunately, Barlow is just the latest player to fall under the team’s curse. At this rate, you can just pencil him in for some weird surgery that will keep him out the rest of the season.
Sorry Sixers fans, this is your life.