Injured Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid Plans to Return to Action With 76ers This Season – News18

Joel Embiid wants to play again this season — for the Philadelphia 76ers, yes, even as they fade without the injured All-Star in the playoff hunt but also this summer for the U.S. Olympic team.

The reigning NBA MVP, Embiid has been sidelined since early February when he underwent meniscus surgery on his left knee after he was hurt when a player fell on him. Embiid had already been hampered by knee injuries this season that cost him multiple games — and cost the 76ers a good spot in the standings.

When healthy, Embiid continued to perform at an MVP level. He was the NBA’s leading scorer at 35.3 points per game at the time he was hurt and averaged 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists. He scored a franchise-record 70 points to go along with 18 rebounds on Jan. 22 in a 133-124 victory over San Antonio.

And the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft says he’s not done yet.

“That’s the plan,” to return, Embiid told reporters Thursday at the team’s New Jersey complex. “Obviously, everything has to go right as far as getting healthy and being as close as I’m supposed to be.”

Embiid and the 76ers have said there is no timetable for his return.

“You can never tell how the body reacts, especially once you start ramping up,” Embiid said. “It all depends on how it feels and if it feels great. Then that’s good. If it doesn’t feel like it’s right, then you’ve got to keep going.”

Even if the Sixers plummet in the standings and the postseason seems out of reach, Embiid said he would still try and play.

“I just love playing basketball,” he said. “I want to be on the floor as much as possible. I only have about 20 years to do this. Any chances that I get, I want to be on the floor. It doesn’t matter where we are. I don’t know, four, five, three, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, it doesn’t really matter where we are, I just want to play as much as we can and try and help us.”

Embiid said in the two months leading up to the knee injury he was “not even close” to 100% but his will to win kept him in the lineup.

“I know that 60 or 70% of me can still help the team, a lot, on both ends of the floor,” Embiid said.

Embiid also eyeing Paris Olympics

Embiid told USA Basketball in October that, after more than a year of deliberating, he had picked the Americans over France as his team for the Paris Olympics.

USA Basketball does not plan to announce its team until the spring of 2024, but if healthy, Embiid seemed to have a lock on one of the 12 spots on the squad that will be coached by Golden State coach Steve Kerr.

Embiid became a U.S. citizen last year and could have also chosen to play for France — or even Cameroon, his homeland, if it qualified for the Paris Games.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)