Is Philadelphia 76ers’ star center Joel Embiid dealing with an eye injury?

April 24, 2024 Sports Gist Basketball, NBA 0

What on earth is happening to Joel Embiid’s eye?, Embiid being seemingly unable to blink his left eye BEFORE being…..

Looking at more angles from Game 1 broadcasts as they become available, an instance has been found of Philadelphia 76ers’ center Joel Embiid being seemingly unable to blink his left eye BEFORE being hit by Kelly Oubre Jr. at 7:07.

That being said, prior to that point, it didn’t seem to be bothering Embiid as much — he began rubbing it more consistently and noticeably after the hit, as well as beginning to wear the sunglasses indoors after Game 1, not before.

Could we be looking at two separate issues, or one existing issue that was exacerbated by the contact from Oubre?

April 23, 2024:

If you watched Game 2 or even just parts of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first round series between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks, you may have a lingering question about Sixers’ star center Joel Embiid.

What is going on with his eyes?

Even during the shock of Embiid hitting the ground grabbing his knee during his injury scare in Game 1, this was all many could notice. With his back on the floor and camera stuck on his face, the NBA’s reigning MVP appeared to be only blinking with his right eye.

So, what is going on? We might have just figured out a piece of the puzzle here at Liberty Ballers.

The video below is from the first period of Game 1. Prior to these moments, I was unable to find any instance of Embiid having any issues with his eye.

With 7:11 left in the first, New York’s Donte DiVincenzo takes a shot from beyond the arc. Embiid is boxing out Josh Hart under the rim waiting for the rebound. Kelly Oubre Jr. flies straight towards the bucket and, while leaping with his right arm extended out trying to grab the ball, appears to make contact with Embiid’s face with his left hand at the 7:07 mark. Embiid immediately grabs at his face.

Embiid is out of camera shot for a little after that as the Sixers’ called a timeout and the broadcast went to commercial. During a following Knicks’ drive around 6:33, Embiid is seen trying to battle Isaiah Hartenstein for a rebound. After Hartenstein grabs it and goes up for a dunk, Embiid is seen grabbing his face and covering his left eye again as he slowly heads up the floor. It does not appear that any further contact was made to his face on this play, but its clear something is wrong at this point.

Finally, at the end of the first period, he went straight back into the tunnel holding his face. He returned to the floor in the second, but the eye questionability, let’s say, has been visible ever since.

The more time Embiid is on camera, the more people are noticing. Many have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to post moments of Embiid appearing to be unable to blink or properly move the left eye in sync with his right eye throughout Game 1 and Game 2.

His behavior between games hasn’t done much to assuage suspicions and questions over whether his eye is injured. The big man was wearing sunglasses inside Madison Square Garden at shootaround prior to Game 2 on Monday.

After the Sixers’ Game 2 loss, he appeared to be hiding his eyes by holding his head down for the entirety of his postgame media availability.

Does this confirm that Game 1 is when he may have hurt his eye? No, but it certainly points to it as the inception of the problem.

At this point, the Sixers have not mentioned the issue or listed it on any injury report. As always, we will bring you more concrete information when — and if — it becomes available.

Embiid and the Sixers are off Tuesday and Wednesday before returning to South Philadelphia to host Game 3 on Thursday evening.

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