The road to recovery from yet another injury has begun for Joel Embiid. The Philadelphia 76ers star underwent successful athroscopic surgery on his left knee Wednesday, the team announced Friday.
Embiid, 30, will be re-evaluated in approximately six weeks, per the team. The 2023 NBA MVP and 76ers franchise player was ruled out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season at the end of February in an attempt to find a long-term solution to his months-long battle with a left knee injury.
Embiid played just 19 games this season and is over one year removed from Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga falling on his left knee during a game in January 2024. Embiid had surgery on a then-torn meniscus and missed 29 games before returning ahead of the 2024 playoffs.
Later in the playoffs, Embiid dealt with Bell’s palsy, a neurological condition that causes temporary paralysis on one side of a person’s face, during the 76ers’ first-round loss to the New York Knicks.
As the 2024-25 season got underway, Embiid, while sitting out due to management of his left knee, dealt with off-the-court issues. He was suspended for three games by the NBA last November after he shoved Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes, who had written several columns criticizing Embiid’s conditioning. Embiid cited a specific column in which Hayes invoked both Embiid’s late brother, Arthur, and Embiid’s son, also named Arthur in honor of his brother.
This is not the first time Embiid has missed significant time due to injury. Embiid sat for two seasons to repair a right foot injury after being drafted third overall in 2014, tore his meniscus in his rookie campaign in 2016-17, suffered a fractured left orbital bone and dislocated a finger in 2020 that caused him to miss nine games. He also dealt with a bout of COVID-19 and a torn meniscus in 2021.
Although Embiid has never played more than 68 games in a regular season, the Sixers still believe Embiid will be able to return to play at a high level at some point. The open question is more about when that will occur.
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