Joel Embiid: Philadelphia 76ers superstar to undergo surgery to fix meniscus issue, out indefinitely

The Philadelphia 76ers have been dealt a huge blow with the news that star center Joel Embiid will undergo surgery to address an issue in his left meniscus.

The team confirmed the news but did not specify how long the reigning MVP is expected to be out for.

“Joel Embiid will have a corrective procedure this week to address an injury to the lateral meniscus in his left knee. An update will be provided following the procedure," the statement said.

A report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said that Embiid “is expected to miss some time” but he did add that a more detailed prognosis won’t come until after the procedure has been completed.

The injury is believed to have been suffered in the NBA loss to the Golden State Warriors last Tuesday when Jonathan Kuminga fell on his knee, with an MRI confirming it after the game.

That came after Embiid had missed games against the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers with what the team described as knee soreness.

The 76ers are currently fifth in the East, eight games back of the conference-leading Boston Celtics who are 38-12.

They are currently 4-10 without Embiid this season who already has three 50-point games and nine further games where he got into the 40s. No player in the NBA can match his 35.3 ppg (points per game).

“We had some shaky performances,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said last week of Embiid.

“Then we kind of got in a groove and had some good ones. We got a bunch of good road wins without him. We kind of knew, we’ve got to be able to survive without him.”

The injury does mean that Embiid is almost certainly out of the MVP race, with new regulations saying that players have to play at least 65 games to be considered for awards.

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