Joel Embiid’s surgery to repair the broken orbital bone in his face — the eye socket, to us non-doctors — was on hold for a few days because the swelling in his face needed to go down after Wednesday’s collision with Markelle Fultz.
It finally has, and he has had the surgery, something first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Sixers center Joel Embiid underwent surgery today to repair orbital fracture, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 31, 2018
Joel Embiid underwent surgery today for a left eye orbital fracture, source confirms, first reported by @wojespn. No timeframe for his return has been determined at this time.
— Jessica Camerato (@JessicaCamerato) March 31, 2018
The time frame on these surgeries are usually 2-4 weeks, and his ability to get back on the court includes factors from how things heal to pain tolerance.
The Sixers are optimistic Embiid will only miss a game or two of the playoffs (which start in two weeks). That’s possible. Or, it’s possible he misses more time (and for the Sixers, thinking long-term, there is reason to be a little cautious). What we know is that without Embiid on the court the Sixers are not near the same team, their defense goes from elite to average, their offense falls to one of the league’s worst. That’s not a recipe for lasting long in the postseason.
However, the Sixers remain a team a lot of others in the East would like to avoid, because if Embiid is back and in peak form, this is a bear of a team to beat.