Sixers' Doc Rivers Says Joel Embiid is Doing Great After Knee Injury

Doc Rivers offers an update on Joel Embiid's mentality following his knee injury.

Nobody knew what to expect when Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid had an MRI scheduled for Saturday morning. On Friday night against the Washington Wizards, the four-time All-Star returned to the court after missing the 2021 NBA All-Star Game and the regular-season matchup against the Chicago Bulls due to contact tracing.

It seemed Embiid, an MVP candidate, was making up for lost time as he hadn't played a game in over a week at that point. Unfortunately, the aggressiveness he was playing with on Friday night backfired as the big man had an awkward landing after a huge dunk. 

Embiid stayed down on the court holding his knee in pain causing the game to stop. As Philly's medical team surrounded him, it was clear the injury was nothing small. Fortunately, Embiid was able to walk off the court without assistance after getting up, but once he returned to the locker room, his night was finished. 

"You know, I'm hoping for the best," Rivers said after the game. "I did talk to him. He was in the locker room. You know, he's in pretty good spirits. So, let's just hope for the best." At the time, Rivers didn't want to speculate on Embiid's injury. While the Sixers hoped it was nothing more than a hyperextension, they couldn't be sure.

The following morning, the team confirmed the MRI results came back clean as Embiid's knee didn't have any structural damage. Instead, he was dealing with a bruised knee. While test results were on the positive side, Embiid is still forced to miss at least the next two weeks as he'll have to go through rehab.

“Obviously I was happy with the news," said Doc Rivers on Sunday night. "We had to wait and see and it turned out in our favor.” While nobody, including Embiid, is thrilled with injury and the timeline, the Sixers' big man is thankful he isn't dealing with a setback that could threaten his season.

"He was happy that it wasn’t as bad as a lot of people thought it was — probably including himself," Rivers explained. "He was in a pretty good place. Now that he knows all it takes is rehab, he has a gameplan, we have a gameplan, and now we’re moving forward with it.” 

Without Embiid in the lineup, the Sixers will have to lean on Tony Bradley and Dwight Howard while getting creative. While the situation certainly isn't ideal, the team is just thankful they'll get their MVP-caliber star back in the mix again sometime soon.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.