Joel Embiid, the jewel in the crown of the emerging Philadelphia 76ers franchise, has yet to be cleared for full 5-on-5 play.
Despite having his left knee surgically repaired in late March, the Philadelphia 76ers have yet to clear center Joel Embiid for full 5-on-5 drills.
At the time of his surgery, Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache, who performed the arthroscope in Los Angeles, noted the following:
"“The overall status of Joel’s lateral meniscus and his cartilage is very good. Today’s procedure focused on removing a small portion of the meniscus that was responsible for his symptoms. The recovery program that has been established targets Joel transitioning back to full weight-bearing in approximately two weeks, at which point a conservative approach to his rehabilitation will be introduced.”"
Also making comment following the surgery was the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, Bryan Colangelo:
"“We are very pleased with his post-surgical assessment and forecast for a healthy return to basketball activity.”"
Contrast these comments from Colangelo with those he made just this week, a full six months post-surgery:
"“It’s really early in the process to determine exactly where Joel is in his progression back to playing. We have put him through a very hyper-conservative progression toward returning to basketball. It’s been very important for us to make it criterion based where he checks off certain boxes and he can move to the next step.”"
Embiid’s recovery from the initial time of the injury has been confusing.
Initially hurting his knee on a driving dunk against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 20, Embiid missed the ensuing three games for what the team termed a knee contusion.
But after returning to the court on Jan. 27 against the Houston Rockets, Embiid suffered subsequent swelling, and was ruled out indefinitely. He was eventually ruled out for the remainder of the season on March 1, with the next step being his aforementioned surgery later that month.
So while Colangelo reiterated that Embiid had not suffered any setbacks since his surgery, the recovery time for what was thought to be a minor operation has to be concerning considering Embiid’s injury history.
Despite all of this, Colangelo still sounded upbeat when discussing Embiid’s progress:
"“We’re excited really with where we see him from a physical standpoint. He looks like he’s in tremendous shape and conditioning. He has to get in better 5-on-5 condition. At this stage, he’s not there.“It’s not about getting ready for the first practice or the first game. He will be out there on the first practice and the first game. The question is, how much, how little, if it all.”"
Embiid’s 31-game rookie season emphasized just how important he is to the franchise. After winning just 10 games for the entire 2015-16 season, the Sixers posted 10-5 record in January when Embiid was at his peak.
Overall, Embiid averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in just 25.4 minutes per game. Despite being a rookie, Embiid’s impact was profound, with the Sixers being 8.6 points per 100 possessions worse off defensively when Embiid was off the floor up until his last game of the season.
With the Sixers’ training camp beginning next week in Camden, New Jersey, the noise surrounding the state of Embiid’s left knee is not likely to subside.
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So in the words of Embiid himself, the Sixers’ fans will simply need to “Trust the Process.”