Joel Embiid’s knee is not where he or the Philadelphia 76ers want it, and it looks like they’ll be searching for other options, including surgery, to improve it. One doctor thinks that Embiid and the 76ers will opt to go the Lonzo Ball surgery route, which took a long process for him to get back on the court but is progressing very well since his return.
“Don’t be surprised when we hear in the next days/week that he is going to have something like a cartilage or meniscus transplant surgery done. Not sure what other options they have at this point,” Brian Sutterer MD wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Someone then asked Sutterer how long it would take to heal from that type of surgery, and he replied with 1-2 years. That’s something that probably Embiid nor the 76ers want to hear, but if doesn’t want to have knee problems for the foreseeable future, surgery like that would help.
Since before the start of the season, Embiid has been dealing with the same knee issue, and it’s cost him a lot of games. In their recent game against the Brooklyn Nets, it was obvious that he didn’t look like himself, and he was benched in the fourth quarter.
Joel Embiid’s knee problems continue
After the 76ers’ loss against the Boston Celtics following the All-Star break, Joel Embiid admitted that he may need something else to fix his knee issue, and he isn’t feeling like the dominant player he once was.
“The way I was playing a year ago, it’s not the way I’m playing right now,” Embiid said. “It sucks but I believe I just probably need to fix the problem and then I’ll be back at that level. But it’s hard to have the trust [in your body] when you’re not yourself.”
Embiid has only played 19 of the 76ers’ 56 games this season, and the past two he’s played in have not been a great representation of who he is. He hasn’t played in any back-to-backs this season, and he missed a chunk of the beginning of the year trying to get his knee back in shape.
Now, the 76ers are on a seven-game winning streak and are 20-36, which is not the kind of expectations they had coming into the season. Not only has Embiid been dealing with injuries, but Paul George has also been playing through a lingering issue. It’ll be interesting to see what the 76ers do at this point, and it might be best if they shut Embiid down for the rest of the season so he doesn’t make anything worse.
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