According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Joel Embiid is expected to miss the remainder of the 2025-2025 season due to a left knee injury, marking the latest setback in the 76ers center’s injury-plagued career.
Philadelphia has struggled this season, posting a 20-38 record as of the Embiid shutdown. It’s only a handful of games from the top 10 of the Eastern Conference, which would qualify it for at least the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference, but with Embiid out for the rest of the season, any dreams of a deep postseason run are all but dashed.
Philadelphia has said that the center is not medically cleared to play because of the injury, and that’s why he is being shut down. The hope is that Embiid can be ready for next season. Still, we don’t have all of the information about his injury diagnoses yet, and there is concern that Embiid’s recovery could linger into next season, as well.
Here is more on Embiid’s injury history and how it has affected his availability in his career.
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Joel Embiid games played vs. games missed
Embid was drafted with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. We didn’t know it at the time, but his first two seasons were pretty predictive of how his career in Philly would play out over the next decade.
Embiid missed the initial two seasons of his career because of a stress fracture in his navicular bone. As is the case with his entire career, he has famously missed more games than he has played over the past two years.
Embiid played in 68 games during the 2021-2022 season, marking his career high. He played two more games that season than he did in the 2022-2023 season when he won his lone MVP. Some of the games missed in his healthier seasons weren’t due to specific injuries but normal rest like in the second game of a back-to-back. Still, Embiid has had an injury-plagued career.
| Season | Age | Games played | Games missed |
| 2014-2015 | 20 | 0 | 82 |
| 2015-2016 | 21 | 0 | 82 |
| 2016-2017 | 22 | 31 | 51 |
| 2017-2018 | 23 | 63 | 19 |
| 2018-2019 | 24 | 64 | 18 |
| 2019-2020 | 25 | 51 | 22 |
| 2020-2021 | 26 | 51 | 21 |
| 2021-2022 | 27 | 68 | 14 |
| 2022-2023 | 28 | 66 | 16 |
| 2023-2024 | 29 | 39 | 43 |
| 2024-2025 | 30 | 19 | 63* |
| Total | — | 452 | 407 |
Hindsight is 20/20 but the injury history for Embiid makes the latest extension look like a head-scratching move. Of course, it’s tough to argue that Embiid was a top-five — perhaps a top-three — overall player in the NBA. He averaged 27.7 points and 11 rebounds per game in his career, showing just how dominant he is despite the frequent injuries.
MORE: Latest injury updates on Embiid | Will Joel Embiid retire? | How Embiid injury impacts 76ers’ lottery odds
Joel Embiid contract details
Embiid signed a three-year, $192.9 million contract extension ahead of the 2024-2025 season. It is a fully guaranteed deal, so Embiid’s injury situation, along with the long-term outlook, makes his latest extension look like a salary cap killer.
The extension doesn’t kick in until the 2026-2027 season and runs through the 2028-2029 season if the center picks up his player option, per Spotrac.
| Season | Salary | Age |
| 2024-2025 | $51,415,938 | 30 |
| 2025-2026 | $55,224,526 | 31 |
| 2026-2027 | $59,539,200 | 32 |
| 2027-2028 | $64,302,336 | 33 |
| 2028-2029 | $69,065,472 (player option) | 34 |
Joel Embiid injury history
Here is a rundown of the injuries that Embiid has dealt with in his career.
| Year | Injury |
| 2014 | Stress fracture of navicular bone |
| 2015 | Re-broke navicular bone |
| 2017 | Left knee swelling |
| 2017 | Minor knee meniscus tear |
| 2018 | Fractured left orbital bone |
| 2020 | Finger injury |
| 2021 | Partially torn meniscus in knee |
| 2021 | COVID-19 |
| 2022 | Torn ligament in thumb |
| 2022 | Mild Concussion |
| 2022 | Right orbital fracture |
| 2024 | Torn meniscus in knee |
| 2024 | left knee injury management |
| 2024 | Swelling in left knee |
| 2024 | Sinus fracture |
| 2024 | Foot sprain |
| 2025 | Season-ending injury to knee |
Joel Embiid games missed meme
Fans were aware that Embiid has missed a lot of games due to injuries over his career, but they may not have known how many games. With Embiid sitting on the bench, TNT put up a graphic during a 76ers game. It showed that of the 846 games that have happened since he joined Philly, Embiid has missed 400 of them.
Joel Embiid has already missed 400 games in his career 😳 pic.twitter.com/6v3GFJZ0t0
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) January 29, 2025
The image went viral on social media, and unless Embiid can figure out a way to stay on the court, it could mark an unofficial epitaph on his checkered career.
