Joel Embiid Has Swelling in Left Knee, to Be Re-evaluated Next Week

Joel Embiid is managing swelling in his left knee, the Sixers announced Friday night.

In consultation with the team’s medical staff, he missed Friday's game against the Brooklyn Nets and will also miss Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Embiid is receiving treatment and the team expects further updates on his status to be provided early next week.

Let's start with a timeline of events leading up to Friday's game.

1. Embiid was not listed on Thursday's injury report for the game against the Nets.
2. Embiid was downgraded to "questionable" for the Nets game due to left knee injury management at Friday morning shootaround.
3. Embiid was reportedly present for shootaround but did not participate.
4. During his pregame media availability at 5:15 p.m., Nick Nurse told reporters that Embiid would go through his regular pregame warmup to determine his availability for the game.
5. Embiid never took the court for his usual warmup 45 minutes before game time.
6. The team ruled him out for the game shortly after all players and staffers left the court.
7. Then, at 8:21 p.m., the team made the above announcement.

Needless to say, it's an outrageously unclear situation hanging over a miserable start to this team's season. The longer things remain unclear and this continues, the more difficult it will be to reconcile that the Sixers had some pre-determined plan for managing Embiid's health throughout the season with the reality of the situation.

One thing's for sure: it's getting more difficult to imagine any plan that results in Embiid getting through a playoff run healthy. Because, right now, he can't play four straight games without something going awry.