Joel Embiid’s status for the remainder of the season remains uncertain as he battles a knee injury, and it sounds like the Philadelphia 76ers are weighing some serious long-term health concerns for their former NBA MVP.
Embiid has been ruled out for Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls after he sat out the entire fourth quarter of Philadelphia’s 105-103 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. The 76ers have been consulting with doctors and specialists to determine the best course of action for Embiid after recent treatment on his knee has not been successful.
As Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote on Monday, the original plan for Embiid was to have the 30-year-old get used to playing with pain. The belief was that rest would only make the ailment worse.
Embiid has gotten worse in recent weeks despite playing, however. Hayes reports that Embiid and the Sixers are now considering some “radical” options that could sideline Embiid into next season.
Some of the procedures that are being considered, one of which would involve intentionally breaking a bone in Embiid’s hip to realign a joint, require recovery periods of 6-12 months. Hayes was also told that some of the treatment options would “invariably come with long-term limitations.”
Embiid recently suggested that he will likely need another surgery on his left knee. His goal was to put the procedure off until the season ended, but the 76ers have fallen to 20-36 and are fading from playoff contention. That could become a factor in how they handle the situation with Embiid.
While Embiid has been productive this year with 23.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, he has been nowhere near as dominant as years past. Depending on what needs to be done about his knee, that could simply become the ongoing reality for Embiid.
