Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been ruled out for at least four weeks after undergoing surgery on his left knee.
Embiid, who suffered the injury initially in a defeat to the Golden State Warriors last week, went under the knife to address an issue with the lateral meniscus in the joint and will be re-evaluated in just under a month’s time, the team announced.
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The 76ers have slipped to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and are 4-11 without reigning MVP Embiid this season.
The 29-year-old is the NBA’s leading scorer in 2023-24, averaging 35.3 points per game, added to 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists.
He hit the headlines last month by scoring a franchise-record 70 points, as well as bringing in 18 rebounds, in the 76ers’ 133-124 defeat of the San Antonio Spurs.
The injury eliminates any chance of Embiid retaining his MVP award but, speaking last week, he said he was more concerned with helping the team.
“I’ve already done it,” Embiid said. “If I have a chance to get a second one, I’ll do it. I’m not going to force myself or push for it. My game is always going to speak for itself. We’re winning. That’s the main thing.
“We’ve got to keep winning and you put in the stats to be in the (MVP) conversation that’s great, too. But at the end of the day, if there’s something going on, and I can’t meet the requirement for the amount of games played to qualify for that, then so be it.”
