CAMDEN, N.J. — Joel Embiid and Paul George will each miss a fifth straight game with left knee injuries when the Philadelphia 76ers host Memphis on Saturday night.
The oft-injured Embiid has yet to play this season, though he was a full participant at Friday’s practice, including in 5-on-5 scrimmages. George, who has yet to play this season with a bone bruise on his left knee, also participated in the full practice and scrimmaged with the Sixers.
Embiid skipped the entire preseason and has not played any basketball that matters since he helped Team USA win gold in the Paris Olympics.
During training camp in the Bahamas, Embiid discovered minor swelling in his surgically repaired left knee, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania. As part of the plan laid out this season by the 76ers and Embiid, the swelling was detected in a routine checkup and both sides have been managing and monitoring the knee.
Sources said that Friday served as the first time Embiid has completed a 5-on-5 scrimmage session with all his teammates.
Embiid has prioritized returning when he feels fully comfortable with his left knee, and he appears to be close to his season debut. He was limited to 39 games last season, mostly because of knee surgery after tearing the meniscus in his left knee Jan. 30 against Golden State.
“Everybody has been on the same page,” Embiid said at the 76ers’ New Jersey complex. “If your body doesn’t react well, and if your body tells you one thing [sit out]. I’ve done it. From what I can tell you, I’ve broken my face twice, I came back early with the risk of losing my vision. I have broken fingers. I still came back. When I see people say, ‘He doesn’t want to play,’ I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk, for people to be saying that.”
Embiid’s absence from the season opener raised suspicion in the NBA, and the league fined the team $100,000 on Tuesday for public statements, including by president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and by coach Nick Nurse, that were inconsistent with Embiid’s health status and in violation of NBA rules such as the league’s player participation policy. It found that the participation policy was not violated, however.
Embiid was the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft but missed his first two full seasons with injuries. Since his first full season in 2016, he has played in 433 of a possible 805 regular-season games and only 59 of 67 possible playoff games.
He sprained his right knee in the 2023 playoffs, which cost him games against Brooklyn and Boston. He missed two games in the second round in 2022 and another in the first round in 2021 with various injuries, on top of the two he missed to begin the 2018 playoffs with an orbital fracture and another in 2019, also with a knee problem.
“I wish I was as lucky as other ones,” Embiid said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not trying and I’m not doing whatever it takes to try to be out there, which I’m going to be here pretty soon.”
Embiid added that he does not regret playing in the Olympics. He could return for the Sixers’ three-game West Coast swing, which starts Monday against Phoenix.
“Really it’s being comfortable, trusting it,” Embiid said. “I want to be at my best. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m like, I’m afraid if I do something or whatever [I get hurt again]. I mentioned it since my last surgery; it was probably the toughest mentally. Mentally, I’m just dealing with getting that trust back. In the past, it was just easy.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.