Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid has a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee, a Philadelphia 76ers official told media outlets on Thursday.
Embiid will remain sidelined at least through this weekend as the team determines his treatment plan.
Embiid, 29, was on pace to lead the league in scoring for the third straight season. He was averaging 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.8 blocks but played in just 34 of Philadelphia’s 46 games while dealing with injuries.
As part of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, players must play a minimum of 65 regular-season games in order to be eligible for certain awards, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and the All-NBA teams.
Embiid missed games at Denver and Portland before returning to the floor Tuesday at the Golden State Warriors. He had 14 points and seven rebounds in almost 30 minutes, but he went back to the locker room with 4:04 left in the game after Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga landed on his knee during a loose-ball scrum.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse told reporters that Tuesday’s injury had nothing to do with the left knee soreness that kept Embiid out of the previous two games. On Thursday, the team was fined $75,000 for not including Embiid on the injury report in “an accurate and timely manner” before the Denver game.
–Field Level Media