NBA Insider Makes Something Clear About Joel Embiid’s Knee Issue

The last time the Philadelphia 76ers had Joel Embiid on the court was on January 4 when they defeated the Brooklyn Nets.

At the time, Embiid checked in for his sixth matchup in seven games. Despite dealing with a sinus fracture and a sprained foot, Embiid was playing through his setbacks.

Unfortunately, he went out for the January 6 game against the Phoenix Suns. The Sixers pointed to the sprained foot as the main reason for Embiid’s absence.

Dec 28, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) reach for a loose ball during the fourth quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Eventually, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse noted that Embiid re-aggravated the foot injury, which caused him to miss six games in a row.

The 76ers hoped to get Embiid back on the floor for their three-game road trip, which started in Indiana and concluded in Denver, but a private workout led to further setbacks.

While the Sixers announced that Embiid was cleared from the foot sprain, he was ruled out for another stretch of games as he started experiencing swelling in the knee once again.

The team issued an update to formally rule Embiid out for a small stretch rather than continuing to carry the day-to-day label for the star center, but ESPN’s Brian Windhorst made it clear there is no re-injury in play.

“Because the Sixers have to be so careful with how they announce the injuries with Joel—it’s very delicate with him—because there’s been so many different rounds of it that it can be de-sensitizing,” Windhorst said on ‘The Hoop Collective.’

“I think people are losing track of the fact that he keeps missing games with this knee swelling, and they are not announcing an injury. He hasn’t gotten hurt. His knee is just broken right now.”

Windhorst didn’t mean Embiid’s knee is broken in a literal sense, but it’s apparent the star big man cannot get it back to where it used to be. After going down with a knee injury last season and undergoing surgery midway through the year, Embiid hasn’t been able to fully overcome the soreness and swelling that comes with having a medically repaired knee.

Will that change? The Sixers reportedly consulted enough specialists to feel confident enough in Embiid’s ability to play to the level of a max extension, hence the reason why they signed him over the summer.

But the early evidence hasn’t been promising, and one of Windhorst’s colleagues expressed his doubts.

“It’s going to be chronic for the rest of his career,” said ESPN’s Tim McMahon. “The guy played 39 games last year, and honestly, that’s going to be a number I’m not sure that he reaches a lot in his career, unfortunately.”

This year, Embiid has made 13 appearances in 42 games. The Sixers are slated to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, and Embiid is expected to have another evaluation on his knee to determine whether he can play or not.

If not, Embiid will miss 10 in a row. The 76ers are currently dealing with a seven-game losing streak and are on the outside looking in at the NBA Play-In.

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