Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid is set to undergo knee surgery next week after previously being ruled out for the rest of the season.
Embiid, who has battled injury issues for many seasons across his NBA career, was ruled out for the season back in February due to a knee issue.
Now, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Embiid will go under the knife after consulting with doctors and team officials on what the best move is for his career.
A former NBA Most Valuable Player, Embiid’s career has been decorated. But he’s also dealt with plenty of injuries throughout his time in the association.
He began his time in the NBA after being drafted out of Kansas, but didn’t play his first year after scans uncovered a broken navicular bone in his foot.
Embiid missed the whole 2014-15 season, then the whole 2015-16 season after it was revealed that his recovery was taking longer than expected – leading to a second surgery.
A torn meniscus in his left knee during the 2016-17 season became the first of many leg issues for the Cameroonian-born star. After discovering the injury in February, Embiid missed the remainder of that campaign.
But after that injury, Embiid would stay relatively healthy for the next six seasons.
In each of those campaigns from 2018-2024, the Sixers made the playoffs. However, they only made it as far as the Eastern Conference semifinals.
From the 2017-18 season until the 2022-23 season, the Sixers made the conference semifinals in five of six attempts – and lost all five of them: twice to the Boston Celtics and one time each to the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Atlanta Hawks.
In February of the 2023-24 season, Embiid suffered a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee after Golden State Warriors big man Jonathan Kuminga fell on his leg while diving for a ball.
Embiid was out from February to April after undergoing his second surgery on that knee.
He did return for the playoffs, but Philadelphia fell in the first round to the New York Knicks.
Cut to this season. Lingering issues in that left knee kept the 7-footer out for the start of the campaign.
Embiid also missed time after getting into an altercation with a reporter, resulting in a suspension.
He played his first game of the NBA season in an NBA Cup game against the Knicks on November 12.
Then, the knee started acting up again. Embiid missed 15 games over the course of a calendar month that led to him being absent after a January 4 game and not returning until a February 4 game.
Embiid played six games in the month of February before being shut down for the rest of the season by the Sixers. Now, he’ll undergo surgery.
The big man has only logged 19 games this season – averaging 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
He is currently in the second year of a four-year, $213m deal. On top of that, a three-year, $192m extension kicks in for the 2026-27 season and keeps him off the free agent market until 2029.
