The Philadelphia 76ers’ horror season has been given another chapter: Joel Embiid will no longer play in the current season due to his ongoing knee problems.
The bad news came late Friday night Central European Time, which should hardly come as a surprise to anyone: Joel Embiid has to cut back due to his ongoing knee problems and will no longer play in the current regular season.
As the Philadelphia 76ers announced in a statement, the 30-year-old is “medically unable to play”. The team came to this conclusion after further examinations and consultations with knee specialists. Embiid has been struggling with problems in his left knee for quite some time. He played his last game of the season last weekend and has since missed the Sixers’ two following games.
Earlier this week, it was announced that conservative treatment methods for his knee problems had not yet worked and that surgery could not be ruled out. It was just over a year ago that Embiid had surgery on his left knee.
However, a decision on whether further surgery is necessary has not yet been made. The Sixers are still looking for a long-term solution to the knee problems.
Last season, Embiid only played 39 games due to a torn meniscus, and he has appeared in 19 games this season. On average, he put up 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists, but his performances were not as dominant as in previous years, when he was named MVP in 2022/23, for example. His field goal percentage of 44.4 and his three-point field goal percentage of 29.9 are both career lows.
But it’s not just Embiid’s season-ending injury that makes the 2024-25 season one to forget for the Sixers. Even with their star center, the team from the City of Brotherly Love never got off the ground. With only 20 wins in 38 games, the Sixers are currently on a nine-game losing streak and in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia is even threatening to miss the play-ins.
