Joel Embiid has been dubbed the “unluckiest player in basketball” by fans after suffering another injury in the Philadelphia 76ers’ latest loss.
Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, was hit in the face while trying to get a defensive rebound late in the first half against the Indiana Pacers, and the team later revealed that he had suffered a sinus fracture and would not return to the game.
On social media, fans shared their frustrations over yet another injury to one of the league’s best players, with one writing, “Embiid’s body is falling apart.” Another sad story for one of the most talented players the sport has ever seen…he can’t catch a break.’
Another added: “Embiid is the unluckiest player in basketball.”
The incident occurred when the Cameroonian center was fighting Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin and received an errant forearm and an elbow to the bridge of the nose. He immediately fell to the ground as the game continued.
Shortly after, he left the Wells Fargo Center for evaluation, and the team soon announced he would undergo more testing this weekend.
Joel Embiid takes a forearm and an elbow to the face late in the first half of the 76ers game
Embiid was left writhing in agony on the court and it was later revealed that he fractured his sinus.
Embiid was only playing his sixth game of the 23 that Philadelphia has played so far this season. He is bothered by swelling in his left knee and also served a three-game suspension for a physical incident with a reporter.
Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, considered Philadelphia’s ‘Big Three’ after George’s arrival in the offseason, have played parts of just three games together. The Sixers are 7-16 on the season.
Embiid has also suffered several facial injuries, including a fractured orbital bone after a collision with Toronto’s Pascal Siakam during the 2022 playoffs and one in 2018 after colliding with teammate Markelle Fultz.
Embiid is treated by medical personnel before leaving the arena for further medical evaluation.
Embiid can’t catch a break and has been labeled the ‘unluckiest player in basketball’
Last year, Embiid suffered Bell’s palsy during a first-round playoff loss to New York.
Embiid told ESPN after Sunday’s win in Chicago that his left knee issues this season were “depressing” because the swelling was not injury-related. That was Philadelphia’s last game before Friday.
“He’s been in a really good place all week and practiced all week,” coach Nick Nurse said when asked about Embiid’s mood. ‘We did a lot of things to catch up with him. But I can imagine that he may feel like the dark cloud is hanging over him a little bit. Unfortunately, he keeps tripping over something.
In the game before his early departure, Embiid scored 12 points, four rebounds and five assists in 17 and a half minutes, but Philadelphia lost 121-107 to the Pacers.