Sophia Michaels
UPDATE: Joel Embiid is headed to surgery. The team announced that Embiid will get a procedure on his torn finger ligament, and in a bit of good news, it’ll only take a week or two for the team to re-evaluate the big man.
Joel Embiid is having surgery tomorrow in NY. Re-evaluated in one to two weeks.
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) January 9, 2020
EARLIER: The Philadelphia 76ers are no strangers to having to win games without the services of superstar center Joel Embiid, and for the foreseeable future, the squad will have to lean on that experience. The team announced that the dislocated finger that Embiid suffered on Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder led to a torn ligament in his hand, and as a result, there’s no word on when we’ll see him suit up again.
The Sixers say Joel Embiid has a torn radial collateral ligament in the fourth metacarpal in his left hand. There is still no timetable for his return. He continues to consult with doctors about next steps.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 9, 2020
76ers star Joel Embiid has a torn ligament in left hand and is evaluating his treatment options.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 9, 2020
There is a video of the dislocated finger that you can see here (we must warn you that viewer discretion is advised). After suffering the injury, Embiid was able to return to the game and finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in 33 minutes of action. As a result, though, the big man was listed as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics.
Losing Embiid for any extended period of time would be brutal for a Sixers squad that has struggled to keep its starting five healthy all season. Philly’s No. 1 priority, in the event it did not pull off a trade, was to get everyone on the same page as it entered the second half of the season, something that will be difficult without Embiid being able to take the floor.
While Embiid has seen a dip in his numbers this year, he’s still been one of the best centers in the league and is averaging 23.4 points and 12.3 rebounds a night. Philadelphia sits at 24-14 on the year, which puts them in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and 8.5 games behind top-seeded Milwaukee. We’ll keep you updated on potential next steps for Embiid, which would hopefully include word on when he’ll be able to return to action.
Written by: Uproxx
