Joel Embiid's Return is Imminent, Per Reports

The reigning MVP has missed the last two months due to injury.
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Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid is nearing a comeback and could return as soon as Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, The Atheltic's Sham Charania reports. The insider also noted that the reigning NBA MVP has successfully completed multiple five-on-five scrimmage sessions in recent days.

Embiid has been sidelined since suffering a knee injury during a game against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 30. He underwent surgery to repair his meniscus on Feb. 6. Things have gone south for the Sixers since the injury and getting one of the best players in the league back on the court as soon as possible has been the team's priority for two months.

Philadelphia was 29-17 and in fifth in the Eastern Conference when Embiid sustained his injury. The Sixers have gone 11-18 in his absence and dropped all the way to eighth in the standings. They currently trail the Indiana Pacers by two games for the No. 6 seed, which avoids the play-in tournament, with seven remaining regular season contests to play.

In 34 games before being sidelined, Embiid was averaging a career-high 35.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.

Kyle Koster is an editor at The Big Lead.


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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.