Joel Embiid Has Surgery, May Be Back In Two Weeks

MARCH 31, 3:26pm: Embiid had surgery today to repair an orbital fracture, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He could be cleared by team doctors to return for the start of the playoffs in two weeks, but the date will depend on his pain threshold (Twitter link).

MARCH 29, 6:57pm: The Sixers have announced in a press release that Joel Embiid has, in fact, been diagnosed with a concussion and will additionally undergo facial surgery after a CT scan revealed an orbital fracture of his left eye.

There is no current timetable for his return, although Zach Lowe of ESPN tweets that a source of his suggests Embiid could resume playing in two-to-four weeks, pending the results of surgery.

Initially Embiid cleared the NBA’s concussion protocol but began to exhibit symptoms later on after being taken to a hospital for further evaluation and testing. Embiid, the team says, has now been formally placed in the league’s concussion protocol.

As we wrote earlier today, Embiid suffered the injury after a collision with teammate Markelle Fultz.

There is no set date for Embiid’s surgery, the team having only specified that the procedure will be performed in the coming days.

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