November 16, 2023
A doorbell camera video shows Philadelphia 76ers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. returning to his home Saturday night and telling his wife that he had been struck by a car in Center City.
In the footage, obtained by TMZ Sports, Oubre enters his apartment with a bicycle. He can be heard telling his wife, Shylynn, "I got hit by a car."
"Are you OK?" Shylynn asks in the video. She reportedly called 911 to have Oubre taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Doctors determined he had a broken rib and injuries to his hip and right leg.
Oubre, 27, told police he was struck by a speeding car that turned from Spruce Street onto Hicks Street — just west of 15th Street — as he was crossing the intersection at 7:20 p.m., investigators said. Oubre said the side mirror of a silver car hit him in the upper chest.
TMZ reported that Oubre returned home "just minutes" after being struck, but the video does not include a timestamp.
As of Thursday morning, investigators have been unable to find video of the hit-and-run, a Philadelphia police spokesperson said, adding that the investigation remains active. The 76ers confirmed the basic details Oubre shared with police in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday night.
TMZ Sports has obtained footage of #KellyOubreJr just minutes after he was struck by a vehicle over the weekend. https://t.co/PY8cMUuTdc pic.twitter.com/c0DHPX6BMk
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) November 16, 2023
The absence of video evidence from the crash, which happened in a busy area of Center City, prompted reporters to ask Sixers Head Coach Nick Nurse on Wednesday about what happened to Oubre.
"I'm gonna believe Kelly at his word and all that stuff and focus on this game and handle things as they come," Nurse said. "I don't have any other conversations or anything, right now, to comment on. If some more evidence or anything else comes to light, we'll handle it when it comes to light. I don't think it's very fair to him to say he made up some story, I just don't."
Nurse said Oubre had been at the team's practice facility in recent days and rode an exercise bike, but a timetable for his return to the court is unclear. Oubre signed with the Sixers as a free agent over the offseason and moved to Philadelphia in September.
TMZ and other outlets, including the Inquirer and FOX29, cited sources who said Oubre's unfamiliarity with the area may have led him to provide police with an inaccurate location of where the incident happened. Sources told TMZ that Oubre was medicated at the hospital and "not in the right state of mind" when he spoke with police.
In their preliminary incident report, Philadelphia police said fire department medics responded to the scene of the crash and took Oubre to the hospital. It did not mention a bicycle. The department often shares preliminary information that may be subject to change as the details of an investigation become clearer.
The incident has drawn heightened attention to pedestrian safety in Philadelphia in recent days, prompting local organizations and other advocates to speak out about reckless driving. Pedestrians are more likely to die in fatal car crashes than people traveling in cars and on bikes and motorcycles, according to the city's most recent Vision Zero report.
There have been 51 pedestrians killed in car crashes in Philadelphia this year, according to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.
