Joel Embiid Believes Minor Setback Won't Go Away Anytime Soon

This season, Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid has been healthier than ever. Outside of a couple of rest nights and a battle with COVID-19, Embiid hasn't missed too much action. The last time Embiid missed consecutive games was in late November, and he played in 19 of the previous 20 games.

Just because Embiid's been available, though, doesn't mean he's been setback-free. When the Sixers took the court on Thursday morning for a light shootaround, Embiid was spotted sporting tape on his wrist.

The following night when Embiid took the floor to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was donning a shooting sleeve. After the game, Embiid revealed that he had the sleeve on because he was dealing with swelling in his right wrist. 

"It's pretty swollen," said Embiid during his postgame press conference, with ice taped around his wrist. "I honestly don't know when it happened. I just woke up two days ago, and my whole hand was pretty swollen.... I'm not sure what happened."

Less than 24 hours after wrapping up Friday's game, Embiid and the Sixers took the court once again on Saturday to host the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although Embiid wasn't wearing a shooting sleeve once again, he entered Saturday's game with his wrist taped up.

After checking in for nearly 33 minutes and putting up a triple-double in the Sixers' win over Cleveland, Embiid addressed reporters with his wrist wrapped up with ice once again and offered an update on his health.

"It's alright," Embiid explained. "It's something that's probably gonna be there for a while. I just gotta keep managing it. It's pretty sore, but it'll be fine."

While Embiid's recent minor setback certainly isn't ideal, it doesn't seem to be anything that will keep him off the court. As long as the big man can manage the pain and the swelling, Embiid should be available for the Sixers when they take the court on Tuesday to face the Boston Celtics. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.