Joel Embiid will have an operation to address his meniscus problem…..

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid — the reigning league MVP — will undergo a procedure to address a left meniscus injury in the coming days, the team announced Sunday night, and “the door isn’t closed” on a return this season, sources told ESPN.

Embiid is expected to miss an extended period, but a more precise timeline isn’t expected until doctors complete the procedure, sources said.

Embiid has had injuries to both knees in his career, and this one comes at an inopportune time for him and the Sixers. The All-Star center is leading the NBA in scoring with 35.3 points a game and was on pace to join Wilt Chamberlain as the only other player to average at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in a season. He’s also the only player aside from Chamberlain in 1961-62 to average at least one point per minute played.

Embiid, 29, missed Game 5 of the 2021 first-round playoff series vs. the Washington Wizards with a small meniscus tear in his right knee and had season-ending surgery on his left meniscus in 2016-17, missing 37 games.

Embiid had a 22-game streak of at least 30 points ended Tuesday in a loss to the Golden State Warriors, a run that was the fifth longest in league history. Embiid suffered the meniscus injury in the fourth quarter, when Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on the knee.

The 76ers have struggled with Embiid out of the lineup, losing 10 of 14 games without him this season. Philadelphia is 30-18 and entered Sunday night’s games fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers are 26-8 with Embiid on the floor this season.

Embiid will fall well short of the league’s 65-game minimum to earn postseason awards, stuck at 34 games now.

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Joel Embiid Will Have Surgery On His Meniscus Injury

The Philadelphia 76ers will have to get through much of the second half of the season without the reigning NBA MVP, as Joel Embiid will be sidelined for an extended period as he will have surgery on his meniscus injury suffered last week in a collision with Jonathan Kuminga.

There is no timetable for his return, as that will be dependent on how surgery goes and exactly what doctors have to do to repair his meniscus, but it’s fair to assume that an “extended period” will likely be the majority of the rest of the regular season. The hope for Philadelphia will be that Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, and company can keep them in the top-6 of the East for a guaranteed playoff spot, with their star center returning for the playoffs. Whether Embiid will be able to be back on the court and ramped up to full strength is a considerable question, but that has to be the optimistic view in Philly at the moment.

With the trade deadline arriving on Thursday, we’ll see if the Sixers look to bring in someone to fill the sizable void left by Embiid in the frontcourt, as their options at center currently are Paul Reed and Mo Bamba. In the meantime, they’ll lean heavily on Maxey for offensive creation (he delivered with a 51-point outing last week) and a larger role for Harris as they look to stay in the East’s playoff picture.