The timeline for Joel Embiid’s long-anticipated NBA debut has been extended even further. The Philadelphia 76ers announced that the 2014 lottery pick would undergo a second surgery on his troublesome right foot early last month, causing him to miss the entirety of next season.
But Embiid will be out even longer than initially anticipated. According to Marc Spears of Yahoo, the 21-year-old will have the complicated procedure next Tuesday – nearly five full weeks after his latest diagnosis.
Joel Embiid, who will have Kevin Durant type foot surgery Tuesday, made classy move by attending Sixers asst. @LloydPierceLP wedding Friday.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 15, 2015
Philadelphia first announced Embiid’s unfortunate fate on July 11th. The press release originally stated that his surgery would take place some seven-to-10 days thereafter.
Another note from Spears will make Sixers fans even more frustrated by Embiid’s unfortunate health problems:
Sixers @JoelEmbiid played very well in workouts prior to re-injuring foot & after getting best of Nerlens once told him this is my team now.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 15, 2015
With Embiid and Nerlens Noel, Philly boasts one of the most talented and tantalizing interior tandems in the league. If all things were equal, they’d already be leading the Sixers from rebuilding doldrums of the past two years to hopes of legitimacy as early as this fall. But Noel sat out one season following the 2013 draft, and Embiid will be on the sidelines for the second consecutive campaign of his professional career.
Here’s hoping the latest surgery on the Cameroonian’s foot finally gets the job done. The league is a better place when its top talents reach their potential, and Embiid – along with Noel – is certainly one of them.
[Via Marc Spears]
