Joel Embiid has an orbital fracture

Joel Embiid has an orbital fracture

Embiid will need to have surgery to repair an Orbital fracture on his left eye and his availability for the playoffs is in question.

Embiid will need to have surgery to repair an Orbital fracture on his left eye and his availability for the playoffs is in question.

Things were looking up for the Sixers. They locked up a playoff spot on Sunday, They had an outside chance of getting 50 wins as they pushed for the 3rd seed with a cupcake schedule to finish the season, and Markelle Fultz unexpectedly came back on Monday vs the Nuggets. Then this happened on Wednesday. 

It seemed small at first, Joel Embiid was evaluated for a concussion but was only diagnosed with a facial contusion. The Sixers took care of business against the Knicks and Embiid was taken to the hospital for further evaluation. Things got scary while I was out and about with my dad after the game when I saw Embiid post this on his Instagram story....

Immediately, as I naturally do with Sixer players, you look up every possible injury on google, and I googled Orbital Fractures and it's timeline for recovery.

Thursday afternoon, the Sixers announced that Embiid did have a Concussion but also had an Orbital Fracture in his left eye, and will have surgery in the coming days. 

It's obviously not ideal, as the many in the media and basketball world started to label the Sixers as the dark horse team in the east, and now it's become a tougher proposition with Embiid, the team's best player getting surgery so close to the playoffs, which begin on April 14th. 

The question is the timetable for recovery. A timetable has not be determined according to the team, but ESPN's Zach Lowe is reporting that it could be 2-4 weeks. We have seen many players come back from orbital fractures within that time frame, and usually, they come back with a mask. So the best case scenario would be for Embiid to get the surgery over the weekend and come back on the short end of the recovery timetable and then be ready for the playoffs with a mask. And that's the ABSOLUTE best case scenario. 

If there is a silver-lining among a really unfortunate set of events that have occurred over the last 24 hours is that at least it wasn't a back, foot, or leg injury. This was just a freak accident on a routine dribble handoff that we have seen the Sixers run thousands of times this year.

That's what is probably the most frustrating about this. It was an innocent basketball play that turned into a freak injury, just as this team was gaining some serious steam heading into the playoffs.

Things were looking up for the Sixers. They locked up a playoff spot on Sunday, They had an outside chance of getting 50 wins as they pushed for the 3rd seed with a cupcake schedule to finish the season, and Markelle Fultz unexpectedly came back on Monday vs the Nuggets. Then this happened on Wednesday. 

It seemed small at first, Joel Embiid was evaluated for a concussion but was only diagnosed with a facial contusion. The Sixers took care of business against the Knicks and Embiid was taken to the hospital for further evaluation. Things got scary while I was out and about with my dad after the game when I saw Embiid post this on his Instagram story....

Immediately, as I naturally do with Sixer players, you look up every possible injury on google, and I googled Orbital Fractures and it's timeline for recovery.

Thursday afternoon, the Sixers announced that Embiid did have a Concussion but also had an Orbital Fracture in his left eye, and will have surgery in the coming days. 

It's obviously not ideal, as the many in the media and basketball world started to label the Sixers as the dark horse team in the east, and now it's become a tougher proposition with Embiid, the team's best player getting surgery so close to the playoffs, which begin on April 14th. 

The question is the timetable for recovery. A timetable has not be determined according to the team, but ESPN's Zach Lowe is reporting that it could be 2-4 weeks. We have seen many players come back from orbital fractures within that time frame, and usually, they come back with a mask. So the best case scenario would be for Embiid to get the surgery over the weekend and come back on the short end of the recovery timetable and then be ready for the playoffs with a mask. And that's the ABSOLUTE best case scenario. 

If there is a silver-lining among a really unfortunate set of events that have occurred over the last 24 hours is that at least it wasn't a back, foot, or leg injury. This was just a freak accident on a routine dribble handoff that we have seen the Sixers run thousands of times this year.

That's what is probably the most frustrating about this. It was an innocent basketball play that turned into a freak injury, just as this team was gaining some serious steam heading into the playoffs.

Premium Yahoo, ESPN & Fantrax Tools

Unlock our premium Yahoo, ESPN and Fantrax league tools with an active Patreon subscription for $2/mo and get access to the following tools using data from Yahoo, ESPN and Fantrax leagues:

  • Premium Schedule Grid
  • Waiver Wire Rankings
  • Draft Tracker
  • Matchup Planner
  • Trade Machine
  • Waiver Machine
  • League Scouting Report
  • Team Scouting Report
  • Beast Mode

Learn about our premium tools