Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid offered a loose timeline for when he might return to the court after suffering a knee injury last month.
On Thursday, Embiid told reporters that the plan was to come back at some point before the end of the regular season.
“Obviously everything has to go right, as far as getting healthy and being as close as I’m supposed to be,” Embiid said. “But yeah, that’s the plan.”
The reigning NBA MVP then answered why he would run the risk of aggravating his injury this season.
“The same reason why I was pushing to play the last couple games [before I got hurt],” he said. “I just love playing basketball. I want to be on the floor as much as possible. I only have about 20 years to do this. So any chances that I get, I wanna be on the floor. So it doesn’t matter where we are. I just want to play as much as I can and try to help us.”
#Sixers center Joel Embiid on coming back to play this season: pic.twitter.com/3toWaFwzlf
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) February 29, 2024
The 29-year-old center injured his knee when Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga accidentally fell on his left leg during the 76ers’ road loss Jan. 30. A week later, the 76ers announced that Embiid had undergone a procedure to repair a meniscus injury in his left knee and would be reevaluated in four weeks, which is next Tuesday.
Coming up on the four-week mark, Embiid stressed that he felt comfortable with where he was in his rehab. Prior to his injury, the seven-time All-Star was averaging 35.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game in another MVP-caliber campaign.
Though his knee injury disqualifies him for this year’s MVP voting due to the NBA’s new rules, Embiid spoke confidently about his chances of playing in the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
“If I feel good, I’ll play,” Embiid said. “If it doesn’t feel right, then I’ve gotta make those tough decisions.”
The 76ers (33—25) currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
