Joel Embiid undergoes foot surgery, 76ers say bone 'better than expected'
Joel Embiid isn't letting a fairly major injury setback destroy his optimism for the future.
It took a little longer than expected, but the Philadelphia 76ers center finally underwent bone graft surgery on his right foot Tuesday. Embiid is expected to miss his entire sophomore season, as he did his rookie season because of the same injury.
The 76ers released a statement on Embiid's surgery, with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Martin O'Malley expressing optimism about the condition of Embiid's foot:
Joel Embiid underwent a procedure this morning to address the existing fracture site of his right foot navicular bone.
Visual inspection suggested good vascularity of the bone. We replaced the two existing screws and performed a bone graft of the site using bone from his hip.
We were able to identify that bone's integrity was even better than expected and has been put in a great position to support full recovery.
Despite losing two years of his career before it's even begun, Embiid remained positive Tuesday with this Instagram post:
CAPTION: EVERYTHING WENT REALLY WELL..... Excited for the future #BELIEVE #JE21 #Sixers
The 2014 No. 3 overall pick reportedly re-broke his navicular bone after he spent a season rehabilitating, a kind of worst-case scenario for the player and team after the Sixers opted to select him even after a stress fracture was discovered on the eve of the draft.
Despite already employing big man Nerlens Noel, the 76ers selected Embiid with the expectation he would miss five-to-eight months, and an implied acceptance that he could miss his entire rookie season, as Embiid did. There is now some concern that the injury could be career-threatening, which would help further explain Philadelphia using the No. 3 pick this year on another center, Jahlil Okafor.
Making matters worse for the franchise is the fact Embiid's injury reportedly isn't covered by insurance, so they'll be on the hook for his entire $4.6-million salary for 2015-16.
The gamble Philly took at No. 3 last year still makes sense, and hindsight shouldn't change that. Embiid was thought to be the best prospect in the draft before injury trouble - he also had a stress fracture in his lower back - and the Sixers made the play for the highest upside. That's the most obvious path to moving from the cellar to championship contention, but it comes with risks, and may take a few rolls of the dice to pay off.
Still just 21, the 76ers have to hope Embiid can eventually get healthy enough that they can see what they have with the talented Cameroon native.