Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid — the reigning league MVP — will undergo a procedure to address a left meniscus injury in the coming days, the team announced Sunday night, and “the door isn’t closed” on a return this season, sources told ESPN.
Embiid is expected to miss an extended period, but a more precise timeline isn’t expected until doctors complete the procedure, sources said.
Embiid has had injuries to both knees in his career, and this one comes at an inopportune time for him and the Sixers. The All-Star center is leading the NBA in scoring with 35.3 points a game and was on pace to join Wilt Chamberlain as the only other player to average at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in a season. He’s also the only player aside from Chamberlain in 1961-62 to average at least one point per minute played.
Embiid, 29, missed Game 5 of the 2021 first-round playoff series vs. the Washington Wizards with a small meniscus tear in his right knee and had season-ending surgery on his left meniscus in 2016-17, missing 37 games.