February 06, 2024

Report: Joel Embiid has successful surgery on his knee

The latest Joel Embiid injury update indicates that he'll be reevaluated in four weeks.

By Shamus Clancy
PhillyVoice Staff

Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports

Surgery is on the way for reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid.

UPDATE [9:55 a.m] — Joel Embiid has undergone a successful procedure Tuesday to address an injury to the lateral meniscus in his left knee.

The team reported that they will have him reevaluated in four weeks. It's an encouraging sign that the team is being proactive to potentially get him on the floor again this season.

From earlier...

The next steps in the Joel Embiid injury plan are in place. According to NBC Sports Philadelphia's John Clark, Joel Embiid will be getting surgery on his meniscus on Tuesday.

After playing through pain, a left knee injury last week against Golden State compounded Embiid's issues, leading to a displaced flap in his meniscus in his left knee.

On Monday, PhillyVoice spoke with Dr. Dinesh Dhanaraj, an orthopedic surgeon at St. Mary Medical Center about Embiid's potential recovery time and surgery.

"Sometimes they do what's called a partial meniscectomy where it's a debridement and you trim the meniscus down," Dr. Dhanaraj said. "It could still be a partial meniscectomy where they just shave that 'flap' down. That's a quicker recovery and could be three to four weeks."

Later, Dr. Dhanaraj said, "If It's a bigger flap though, he may be better off with the repair, which takes two to four months of recovery time with three months being a sweet spot."

The Sixers have dropped six of their last seven games on top of Embiid's crushing injury woes. That early season promise has once again evaporated for this franchise.