Apparently Joel Embiid's Knee is Pretty Banged Up
Joel Embiid banged up his knee in the New Orleans season opener in a collision with Jonas Valanciunas, but played in the three games since. The Sixers are 1-2 in that time frame sans Ben Simmons, and Wednesday on ESPN, Ramon Shelburne said this about the center’s lower extremity:
.@ramonashelburne on Joel Embiid playing through injuries (via NBA Today).
"He told me after this game in New Orleans, he couldn't walk for two days." 😳
(via NBA Today) pic.twitter.com/yuq6fdbfDN
— ESPN (@espn) October 27, 2021
Embiid was questionable going into the home opener, but found his way into the starting lineup and went for 19 points on 6-15 shooting over the course of 30 minutes. He scored 22 points in Oklahoma City on Sunday, playing 33 minutes, and was back down to 30 minutes last night in New York, shooting 2-7 at Madison Square Garden. He did most of his work from the perimeter and spent less time around the paint, which the Knicks typically pack anyway.
Joel noted last night he doesn’t wanna make any excuses, and should “push through” the knee injury, but that’s absolutely not the right call right now. He doesn’t need to be the hero. They should sit him down for Thursday night’s game against the Pistons and focus toward Atlanta on the weekend. The Sixers have a four game home stand coming up and they are only four games into the season. There’s no need for Embiid to be out there right now.
EDIT –
Worth pointing out that he did not have offseason surgery for the meniscus.