Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid suffered a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee when Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga landed on his leg in Tuesday night's game, the Sixers announced Thursday.
Embiid will be sidelined for the rest of the weekend while treatment options for the injury continue to be explored. Sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that there is still uncertainty about how Embiid and the 76ers will move forward with the injury treatment plan, and options will be discussed over the next few days.
After missing three games due to left knee pain last month, Embiid missed Saturday's game in Denver and Monday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers due to the same problem. He then returned against Golden State on Tuesday night, but appeared to be struggling with a knee injury throughout the game.
The injury occurred when Kuminga inadvertently fell on Embiid while chasing a loose ball in the fourth quarter. Embiid eventually left the court under his own authority. He and the Sixers have spent the past two days evaluating the injury and exploring potential options for treating it.
Embiid, the NBA's reigning MVP, leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 35.3 points per game along with 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists. He scored 70 points last week against the San Antonio Spurs and currently has more points than minutes played this season — something only Wilt Chamberlain has done over the course of an entire season.
He has already been ruled out of Thursday night's game at Utah, which will be the 13th game Embiid has missed. A player can miss no more than 17 games to be eligible for the league's major awards, including MVP and All-NBA, as part of the league's new player participation policy implemented this season.
Embiid was named the starter for last week's All-Star Game and is now supposed to be replaced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver before the game in Indianapolis later this month.
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