From Bell’s palsy to appendicitis, a history of Joel Embiid’s injuries around the playoffs

Joel Embiid might be one of Philadelphia’s unluckiest athletes — if not one of the unluckiest in NBA history.

In the 12 years since he was drafted into the NBA, Embiid has missed 491 games (including Thursday) and played just 490 because of various injuries and ailments, the latest being appendicitis, which likely will sideline him for the rest of the regular season and into a potential playoff series.

Embiid’s appendectomy, performed on Thursday in Houston, is just the latest injury for Embiid this season. He also was sidelined for 13 games in March with an oblique strain in his side, plus nine games in November and five in February to manage previous injuries in his right knee.

If it feels as if a different injury rears its head for Embiid every April, that’s because it usually does. Here’s a look back at all of his playoff injury struggles:

» READ MORE: oel Embiid diagnosed with appendicitis and will undergo surgery in Houston

A few days before the start of the play-in tournament in 2024, Embiid began to suffer symptoms of Bell’s palsy, which causes weakness or partial paralysis in facial muscles. Embiid struggled to open his left eye and move the left side of his face and wore sunglasses in postgame interviews to hide his condition.

Despite the issue, he still averaged 33 points and 10.8 rebounds in the six-game first-round series loss to the New York Knicks.

Embiid was sidelined for the final game of a sweep of Brooklyn and the first game against the Boston Celtics in the second round with a right knee sprain. The Sixers won both games but went on to lose to the Celtics in seven. Embiid averaged 25.5 points and nine rebounds in the series.

In Game 6 of the Sixers’ first-round series against the Toronto Raptors, Embiid suffered a fractured right orbital bone and a mild concussion after Pascal Siakam elbowed him in the face.

Embiid missed the first two games of an eventual 4-2 second-round series loss to the Miami Heat. The Sixers lost both games without him.

Embiid missed the series-clinching Game 5 against the Washington Wizards with a torn meniscus in his right knee. The center ultimately played all seven games in a series loss to Atlanta, averaging 30.4 points and 12.7 rebounds.

Embiid missed Game 3 of the Sixers’ first-round series against the Nets with left knee tendinitis before returning in Game 4 and playing the rest of the Sixers’ playoff run, which ended in the second round with the Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater for Toronto in Game 7.

In 2018, it was Embiid’s left orbital bone that required surgery after a collision with teammate Markelle Fultz. The injury kept him sidelined for eight regular-season games and the first two games of a first-round series win over Miami.

In his first playoff run, Embiid averaged 21.4 points and 12.6 rebounds before the Sixers’ season ended in the second round against the Celtics.