Injury-plagued career

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted him as their 3rd overall pick after Andrew Wiggins (CLE) and Jabari Parker (MIL) during the 2014 NBA Draft.  Also in that class is Aaron Gordon, Marcus Smart, Julius Randle and Zach LaVine.

But Joel Embiid, with all his height, heft and talent, was fated to have an assortment of injuries as his constant companion in his eleven seasons so far in the league.  He’s one of the best 7-footers to have played the game, but getting injured is a familiar theme for Embiid.

Even before the draft, Embiid had a foot fracture which kept him from playing on his entire rookie season.  A second fracture on the same foot happened which led him to miss the whole of 2015-2016 season.

Embiid finally played in the following season but only for 31 games because of a meniscus tear on his left knee.  In 2018 he had an orbital bone fracture near the end of the season that kept him out, which made him look like The Phantom of the Opera for the next couple of years.  2021 was when he had a relatively healthy season where he played a total of 68 games.

Last year, he had surgery on his left knee and it’s obvious that it’s not fully healed as the Sixers recently had finally shut him down for the remainder of the season stating he’s “medically unable to play”.  The team said they will focus on treatment and rehab on the problem joint of their franchise player.

Embiid also had a broken finger, a torn ligament, a sprained shoulder, tendinitis, a bout with Bell’s palsy and a busted sinus.

Missing almost 50% of games in his entire career, Embiid had missed 431 games of the 883 games by the end of this season.  But when he’s playing, the 2023 MVP and two-time scoring titlist dominates with career averages of 27.7 points and 11 rebounds per game.  He once dropped 70 points in a win over San Antonio in January of last year.  His career scoring average only ranks behind Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Luka Doncic on the career list.

Embiid’s health is very important for Philadelphia as they win more games with him on active duty.  They got Paul George in the off season, and they could have formed their own version of a big three with Tyrese Maxey, but it has never come into fruition as George is also an injury magnet and had some of them this season.  Bluntly, the 35-year old George, who signed a 4-year, $211 million deal, had been ineffective.

At 31-years old, it is doubtful if Embiid can ever regain his 2022-2023 MVP form.

Big men like Bill Walton, Ralph Sampson and Yao Ming also had numerous injuries throughout their careers but they all made it to the Hall of Fame.  Don’t count Embiid out just yet.