The 76ers have confirmed that Joel Embiid has suffered a lateral meniscus injury on his left knee, so how long will he be out for?
Embiid suffered the injury against the Warriors on Tuesday when he dived for the ball and Jonathan Kuminga landed on his leg, which bent awkwardly.
The big man was in a lot of pain and could be seen limping to the locker room and didn’t return.
The team released a statement with the latest information on Embiid’s injury.
“An MRI following Wednesday’s game (sic) and further evaluation over the last 24 hours revealed an injury to the lateral meniscus in Embiid’s left knee. Embiid, in consultation with the 76ers medical staff and several leading specialists, will be OUT through the weekend while a treatment plan is finalized. Updates will be provided as appropriate.”
Notice how the franchise didn’t specify that Embiid tore his meniscus – an injury he has suffered twice in past seasons.
Following Embiid’s injury announcement, LeBron James took to socials to stand up for Embiid, after he copped a lot of criticism from the media for missing so many games.
Now he’s out with an injury because of it. Not 1 person has went back on tv or their dumbass podcast and apologized to that MAN!! No accountability 🗑️🗑️🗑️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 2, 2024
Embiid hasn’t been having a good time with his left knee, since he missed two games last week for soreness in the same knee, but Nick Nurse confirmed the fresh injury is unrelated to the previous soreness.
Embiid’s recovery time will depend on the severity on the injury.
The center’s 2016-17 season was cut short when he tore his meniscus in his left knee.
In 2021, the reigning MVP suffered a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee in 2021, but was able to return after missing just one playoff game.
He missed his 13th game on Thursday against the Jazz and new NBA rules state that any player who does not play in at least 65/82 regular-season games will be ineligible for postseason awards.
If Embiid misses much more time, his MVP defense will be over.