The Mercury (Pottstown, PA)

Sixers say Embiid will miss rest of the season

MRI reveals the worst for 76ers’ big-man

- By Jack McCaffery jmccaffery@21st-centurymed­ia.com @JackMcCaff­ery on Twitter

A knee injury originally believed so minor that Joel Embiid would play on it seven days later has officially cost the 76ers’ center the remainder of the season.

An MRI taken on Embiid’s left knee Monday showed that a torn meniscus was more serious than earlier scans revealed. For that, he was downgraded from “out indefinite­ly” to “out for the season,” the Sixers said Wednesday.

Embiid sustained the knee injury Jan. 20 in a victory over Portland. That caused him to miss three games before his Jan. 27 return against Houston, when he scored 32 points. He has not played since.

The Sixers originally said Embiid’s knee was bruised. He quickly volunteere­d that it was “hyperexten­ded.” Later, the team described the injury to a bone bruise, which typically puts a patient at a greater risk of a fracture. Eventually, the Sixers shared that earlier scans revealed a slightly torn meniscus.

By Wednesday, Embiid’s once dynamic rookie season was over.

“The assessment of Monday’s follow-up MRI of Joel Embiid’s left knee appears to reveal that the area affected by the bone

“The assessment of Monday’s follow-up MRI of Joel Embiid’s left knee appears to reveal that the area affected by the bone bruise has improved significan­tly, while the previously identified meniscus tear appears more pronounced in this most recent scan.”

Dr. Jonathan Glashow on 76ers’ center Joel Embiid.

bruise has improved significan­tly, while the previously identified meniscus tear appears more pronounced in this most recent scan,” said Dr. Jonathan Glashow, in a statement from the Sixers. “We will continue to work with leading specialist­s to gather additional informatio­n through clinical examinatio­n and sequential testing to determine the best course of action and next steps.”

Glashow is the Sixers’ chief medical director and co-chief of sports medicine orthopedic­s at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

The Sixers, in a press release, added, “Embiid’s status is changed from out indefinite­ly to out for the remainder of this season.”

With that, Embiid has completed a season in which he was an earlier All-Star candidate, yet was limited to 31 games, all with a minutes-restrictio­n of 28 or fewer minutes, as ordered by the team’s sports science department. He averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.45 blocked shots.

Embiid was drafted with the No. 3 pick in the first round of the 2014 draft, then missed two full seasons due to a foot fracture.

Through the recovery process, Colangelo has insisted that Embiid would not require surgery to repair the meniscus tear.

“I’ve been told that it’s not the cause of any symptoms that he is having or that are ongoing,” Colangelo said Monday. “But I was told again that it was a non-acute injury, that it was a minor tear, and that it is not related. But I don’t rule anything out with injuries. It could be that it is not acting up now but could act up at a later date.

“We’ve said often that a lot of players in the league are playing with similar conditions or worse and are asymptomat­ic of maybe not even aware of it. So that’s where we are.”

A back injury limited Embiid to 28 games in his only college basketball season at Kansas. Including that season, he has played a total of 59 games in four years.

 ?? MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? Philadelph­ia 76ers center Joel Embiid will sit out the rest of the season while dealing with a torn meniscus in his left knee.
MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Philadelph­ia 76ers center Joel Embiid will sit out the rest of the season while dealing with a torn meniscus in his left knee.
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