Joel Embiid will be undergoing knee surgery, so ending his season.
Officially, Joel Embiid’s season is ended because the Philadelphia 76ers said their star center would have left knee arthroscopic surgery next week. The operation seeks to fix residual problems keeping the former MVP off the floor for most of the season.
Seven-time All-Star Embiid has been suffering with ongoing knee swelling and pain—an ailment worsened following a February 22 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. That game he scored 14 points in 31 minutes, but he hasn’t dressed up since. The team had already declared him off for the whole regular season, and now, with surgery just ahead, the emphasis moves to long-term recovery.
Embiid’s second knee operation in little over a year marks yet another difficult break in an otherwise injury-free career. Sadly for the Sixers as well as him, this most recent setback occurred during a season starting with championship hopes.
After Philadelphia signed seasoned All-Star Paul George and extended budding star Tyrese Maxey, expectations were great going into the year. But injuries nearly from the beginning changed those intentions almost entirely. George has been sidelined for the season due to a left adductor problem has not played since March 4. Maxey only now returned to practice after cutting his finger on March 3.
The Sixers, who dropped 26 of their past 30 games, have had a difficult season. They now have the fifth-worst NBA record at 23-53 and are on track for their fewest victories since 2015-16, the season before Embiid was drafted. It also finishes their eight-year run of postseason visits.
The figures for Embiid personally show a difficult year. In only 19 games, the fewest of any season of his career, he averaged 23.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game—both career lows since his early seasons. His field goal percentage dropped to 44.4%, another career low, so his shooting also suffered.
All eyes will be on Embiid’s recovery schedule and what this implies for the future of a squad that not long ago was seen as a title contender as the Sixers gather and get ready for the offseason.
