Joel Embiid’s Shin Injury a Bad Start to Critical Stretch for 76ers’ Star

Availability has long been an issue plaguing 76ers star Joel Embiid. His dominance when healthy and on the court is on par with the biggest stars in recent NBA history. But he is eminently unreliable due to injury issues. The contrast between the two aspects of the Philadelphia center has never been starker than this season.

The last few years have been tough for the former MVP big man; Embiid played in 58 games over two seasons leading into the 2025–26 campaign. He underwent knee surgery in April 2025 and played two games to kick off this season on a minutes restriction before the inevitable reports started rolling in—Embiid was ruled out of Philly’s third game of the year and would go on to appear in only four games between Oct. 28 and Nov. 28. Most concerning of all was not necessarily his inconsistent ability to get on the court but the undeniable fact that, when he was playing, Embiid looked like a physical shell of his former self.

But then he was able to play more regularly in December and January. He looked pretty good, and then he looked great. Embiid was able to play in 22 of the Sixers’ final 31 games before hitting All-Star Weekend. He averaged 30 points per game. Philadelphia went 14–8 in those games. It allowed the tiniest ray of hope to shine.

However, the day before the 76ers were slated to take the floor again post-All-Star, Embiid was ruled out with a new issue: a right shin injury that popped up while undergoing knee injury management over the break. It’s yet another line on his extremely lengthy list of injuries suffered throughout his NBA career.

It’s also a bad start to what is a critical stretch for both the star center and his future in Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid’s future with 76ers will be decided in the coming months

The 76ers exit the All-Star break holding the sixth seed in the East. Their future is quite bright with All-Star Tyrese Maxey and standout rookie VJ Edgecombe in the backcourt. But the two aren’t enough to win games on their own quite yet; Philadelphia still needs the good version of Embiid to rack up wins at a playoff-caliber clip, as evidenced by the team’s 11–12 record without him this year. Starting the post-break sprint to the playoffs without him is not ideal even if the roster has plenty of experience compensating for him at this point.

How the rest of the season goes, both with and without Embiid in the lineup, will go a long way towards determining whether Embiid is long for the City of Brotherly Love. If he is able to play somewhat regularly and only miss an odd game here and there outside of standard back-to-back rest, Philly has a puncher’s chance when the playoffs arrive based on how things have gone with him in the lineup this year. He is no longer an elite defender and his mobility will be an ongoing issue on both ends—yet he scored 40 points in 39 minutes less than a month ago. Embiid still has the talent to dominate offensively.

Should he continue to flash that ability and help the 76ers win games (particularly playoff games) then there’s a future for him in Philadelphia as, effectively, a part-time star player. That’s terrible value for what he’s making; Embiid’s annual salary jumps to $58 million next season and continues to climb until the last year of his $188 million extension, a player option worth over $67 million in 2028–29. But given no other team is eager to take on that contract and Embiid can still help win games, the organization would probably accept that.

However, if Embiid ends up sidelined for most of the remainder of the year, or the Sixers prove capable of playoff contention without him … things will change. There will be a significant focus from GM Daryl Morey on getting off the big man’s contract at all costs. His deal is an anchor on the cap books and serves as a massive damper on whatever optimism can be projected about Philly’s chances of competing with a Maxey-Edgecombe core. Moving Embiid isn’t the only path towards flexibility for the 76ers (Paul George has two years left on his bust of a max deal), but it would certainly be the first choice given how much relief it would grant the Sixers. Obviously there’s no guarantee a trade partner would emerge for Embiid but Philly could find one if Morey searched aggressively.

A lot hangs in the balance over the rest of this season in Philadelphia for Embiid. Missing the first game of the post-All-Star break is not a good start.

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