PHILADELPHIA — The hits keep coming for Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid. The star continues to deal with an assortment of ailments he has to battle through to be available for the Sixers.
After scoring 50 points in a 125-114 Game 3 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday, Embiid disclosed he had been diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. The ailment is on top of his ongoing recovery from the meniscus injury in his left knee.
“Every single year, you start asking yourself questions like, ‘Why?’” Embiid said after the win. “Every single year, it’s very annoying. Maybe it’s just meant to be. Just got to take it as it is, but the one thing I’m not going to do is give up. No matter what happens, got to keep pushing, got to keep fighting. Got to keep putting my body on the line for my family, for this city, for this team.”
Since entering the league in 2014, Embiid has dealt with some type of injury annually. He had foot injuries early in his career, orbital fractures in 2018 and 2022 and a torn thumb ligament in 2022. He also suffered a meniscus injury in the 2021 playoffs and had a knee sprain in the 2023 playoffs.
It really is unfortunate that he has dealt with so much.
“It goes through your mind and you can ask yourself those questions, but what are you going to do about it?” Embiid added. “Are you going to quit or are you going to keep going? And if you keep going, what are you going to do about it? The best thing you can do is do the best job possible to prepare yourself every single day, which I’ve done. Sometimes you get the results, sometimes you don’t, but if there’s one thing I’ll say about myself, it’s that I’m not going to quit.”
Even with the injury to his knee and the Bell’s Palsy at the moment, he still dropped a playoff career-high 50 points against the Knicks. He has been a warrior in this series thus far.
“I just love playing the game,” he said. “I just want to be on the floor as much as possible. I want to play as much as possible. I’ve only got about maybe eight years left, so I’ve got to enjoy it as much as possible and I want to win. I think going from the knee injury — I think mentally — the stress, that might be part of it. Like I’ve been saying, mentally, it’s just been so draining, depressing. That could be part of it, so I need to take care of myself mentally and physically.”
Embiid continues to be there for the city of Philadelphia. The fans in this city should be appreciative of what he has brought to the Sixers.
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