Joel Embiid has earned an unfortunate reputation throughout his career. Although he is one of the best centers of his generation, the Philadelphia 76ers star often finds himself on the sidelines. Injuries have been a sadly common theme for the star centre, as his body has suffered a number of injuries throughout his career.
The same can be said this season also. Embiid has already missed more than half the season after undergoing knee surgery earlier this season. The 76ers center played his first game since suffering an oblique strain this past Wednesday. After the win over the Chicago Bulls, Embiid talked about his injury and why his oblique injury is "harder" to recover from than a knee injury.
"My knees haven't been a problem for a long time," Embiid explained. "That's a thing of the past for me. The slant was very tricky, and it's still tricky. You can't really do anything about it, you have to let it play out and hope it doesn't get worse."
Before the game against the Bulls, Embiid had missed the previous 13 games due to an oblique strain. However, before that injury, the 76ers star missed a large portion of the season after undergoing knee surgery. The surgery was performed after the 2024-25 season and was intended to alleviate the problems Embiid has suffered over the past few years.
Embiid's return comes at the right time for the 76ers. Star point guard Tyrese Maxey is still out with a finger injury and could be out for a few more games. With Philadelphia firmly in the playoff race, the team needs every player on its roster to make one last effort.
The 76ers will get another big boost for home expansion. Paul George, who was suspended for 25 games earlier this season for violating the NBA's drug use policy, returned against the Bulls. George finished the game with 28 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Embiid was dominant with 35 points, six rebounds, seven assists and one block.
The 76ers are in seventh place with a 40-33 record, just a half-game behind the sixth-seeded Toronto Raptors and the final guaranteed playoff spot.
