There has been a constant issue behind the Philadelphia 76ers‘ underwhelming finishes over the past eight years: injuries.
The specific player who just hasn’t seemed to stay on the court as of recently is center Joel Embiid. Over the past three seasons, Embiid has played in 96 of the possible 246 regular-season games. It’s been a constant pattern of surgeries at the most inconvenient times, resulting in missing games.
However, the 76ers are hoping the bad days are behind the former MVP. 76ers owner Bob Myers provided a convincing update on the matter.
“The good news is this,” Myers told ESPN. “There’s no scheduled surgeries this summer. There’s no injury going into the offseason. In the past, there has been that. This is an opportunity to get better, not to play catch-up for Joel (Embiid), but to actually get better and build on last year. And with that, the hope’s that he can be on the floor a lot more.”
Joel Embiid’s Injury History
Since getting drafted third overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 NBA Draft, Joel Embiid’s career has been filled with setbacks from the beginning.
2014-2016: After getting drafted in 2014, Joel Embiid missed the entirety of his first two seasons in the league. In the days before the 2014 draft, Embiid underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture of the navicular bone in his right foot.
After missing the entire 2014-15 season, Embiid re-broke the same navicular bone in the following offseason. The setback in recovery led to another surgery and missing the entire 2015-16 season.
2016-17: During his 30th career game, Joel Embiid aggravated his left knee. The injury resulted in swelling and soreness that turned out to be a minor meniscus tear.
Embiid would return for one game, scoring 32 points, but was then shut down after experiencing more swelling to the knee. He would be ruled out for the remainder of the 2016-17 season after 31 games played.
2018: A left orbital bone fracture that required surgery and concussion resulted in Joel Embiid missing the final eight games of the regular season and two games to begin the postseason.
2020: Joel Embiid suffers a finger injury at the beginning of January. It required surgery and kept him sidelined for nine games.
2021: Embiid suffers a partially torn meniscus to his right knee in the first round of the playoffs. He opted to not undergo surgery and missed only one game.
2022: Embiid suffers a torn ligament in his right thumb during the first round of the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors. In the same series, the 76ers star suffered a mild concussion and right orbital fracture, resulting in missing two games of the next round.
2023-24: Joel Embiid suffers a torn lateral meniscus in late January. He would return later in the regular season and the postseason before being diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. Embiid missed 43 regular-season games in 2023-24.
2024-25: Embiid misses the start of the season due to “left knee injury management.”
He would continue to miss more time throughout the season due to an early-season suspension, constant left knee issues, a sinus fracture, and a left foot sprain. After further evaluation, the foot sprain would change to another stint of left knee injury management.
Following further tests in February, Embiid would be deemed medically unable to play and miss the remainder of the season. The long list of setbacks resulted in Embiid missing 63 regular-season games.
76ers Hire Mike Gansey, Promote Jameer Nelson as Vice President of Basketball Operations
After letting go of Daryl Morey following the 2025-26 season, the Philadelphia 76ers made quick work of his replacements.
Philadelphia hired Mike Gansey as the team’s new president of basketball operations. Gansey, 43, previously served in various roles for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the past 15 seasons.
After Gansey’s hire, the 76ers promoted assistant general manager Jameer Nelson to vice president of basketball operations, ESPN’s Shams Charania announced.
With these new moves, general manager Elton Brand stepped down from his role and will pursue a different job with the franchise.
76ers President Provides Joel Embiid Offseason Update