As expected, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid had “minor” arthroscopic surgery on his injured left knee on Friday, the team announced. According to the surgeon who performed the procedure, a “small portion” of his meniscus was removed.
From the press release:
Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache, M.D.:
“The overall status of Joel’s lateral meniscus and his cartilage is very good. Today’s procedure focused on removing a small portion of the meniscus that was responsible for his symptoms. The recovery program that has been established targets Joel transitioning back to full weight-bearing in approximately two weeks, at which point a conservative approach to his rehabilitation will be introduced.”
Philadelphia 76ers Director Of Performance Research & Development Dr. David T. Martin:
“Joel will complete his initial rehabilitation in Los Angeles, with specialists and our medical and training staff committed to a conservative and measured rehabilitation and recovery plan.
“Based on the program that has been outlined, we will continually evaluate Joel’s progress against predetermined benchmarks and anticipate he will resume basketball activities this summer.”
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo:
“Joel, his representatives and our medical staff conducted extensive research based on prioritizing the best possible treatment and recovery outcome for Joel’s knee injury resulting in today’s procedure by Dr. ElAttrache. We are very pleased with his post-surgical assessment and forecast for a healthy return to basketball activity.”
Embiid, social media star that he is, checked in with an Instagram story to tell his fans that it went well:
“He deserves some luck,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said before Friday’s 117-107 victory against the Chicago Bulls, via CSN Philly’s Jessica Camerato. “He’s been through a lot, and he’s a different person than his first injury.”
Embiid had already been ruled out for the rest of the season. In 31 games, he averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 25.4 minutes. While it’s a relatively small sample size, it could be considered among the best rookie campaigns in NBA history. He probably won’t win Rookie of the Year, however, and has endorsed teammate Dario Saric for the award.
This is Embiid’s third surgery in three years. He missed the 2014-15 and ‘15-16 seasons after having surgeries on his right foot.
