Joel Embiid has not been around Sixers ‘at all’ since appendectomy, Nick Nurse says

Joel Embiid has not been around the 76ers “at all” since his appendectomy last week, coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday.

“He’s still in recovery,” Nurse said following the Sixers’ practice before Wednesday’s Play-In Tournament game against the Orlando Magic. “But spirits are pretty good.”

Embiid was diagnosed with appendicitis Thursday, and had surgery in Houston later that day. He was discharged from the hospital and traveled back to Philadelphia on Friday.

Per Jeff Stotts, who has compiled the NBA injury database “In Street Clothes,” the average time missed for an appendectomy is 23 days. If the Sixers advance out of the Play-In Tournament, their first-round series against either the second-seeded Boston Celtics or top-seeded Detroit Pistons would begin Sunday.

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In the meantime, Adem Bona and Andre Drummond will occupy the Sixers’ center minutes. Both players have toggled between starting, coming off the bench, or slipping completely out of the rotation throughout the season and in recent games.

“It’s a read of how things are going,” Nurse said of how he will deploy those minutes moving forward. “I mean, I’ll say it again: we’re going to play Drum. We’re going to play Bona. And we’ve got to figure out what it looks like as the game’s going on.”

Embiid averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 38 games played in 2025-26. But it was another injury-plagued season, including an oblique strain, shin stress reaction, and management required for both knees prior to the appendectomy.

On a positive injury note, Sixers rookie big man Johni Broome was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice for the first time since undergoing meniscus surgery in late February, the team said.