HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Joel Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston on Thursday after Philadelphia’s star big man was stricken with appendicitis overnight.
The team announced that the surgery had been completed as the 76ers were playing the Houston Rockets Thursday night. Coach Nick Nurse said Embiid felt fine in practice on Wednesday before he learned of the situation Thursday morning.
鈥淭hey had said that he had in the middle of the night, like 3, 3:30 (a.m.) or something, contacted them to say he was not feeling well,鈥� Nurse said. 鈥淎nd so I think that鈥檚 kind of when this particular incident started.鈥�
Nurse said the team learned of Embiid’s diagnosis while preparing for the game.
鈥淭hey finally got him to the doctor and they had the scan and then decided they needed to do the surgery here in Houston,鈥� Nurse said.
The coach did not give a timetable for Embiid’s return, but it seems unlikely that the former MVP would be able to return for the play-in tournament or the first round of the playoffs.
鈥淚t is a tough blow,鈥� Nurse said.
The 76ers entered Thursday in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and on track for a spot in the play-in tournament, though they were only one game behind sixth-place Toronto.
Embiid has been limited to 38 games this season, sitting out primarily to manage injuries to his knees.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e played different stretches of the year without him,鈥� Nurse said. 鈥淎s far as what we do personnel-wise, we鈥檝e got (Adem) Bona, we got (Andre) Drummond and we鈥檒l use them both. And then hopefully we can use (Thursday) and (Friday) and Sunday get back to getting used to that scenario again.鈥�
Embiid was on Saturday. He has not played in both games of a back-to-back all season.
After missing Saturday’s game, Embiid had 34 points and 12 rebounds in Philadelphia’s at San Antonio on Monday night.
Embiid, 32, is averaging 26.9 points and 7.7 rebounds this season after playing in only 19 games in 2024-25. He hasn’t appeared in as many as 40 games in a regular season since 2022-23, when he averaged a career-best 33.1 points and
Embiid expressed his frustrations with Daryl Morey, the 76ers’ president of basketball operations, on Friday night for not allowing him to play last week.
鈥淚 was (ticked) off. I wanted to play basketball,鈥� Embiid said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 allowed to play basketball, so I think this is more of a question of Daryl Morey or whoever makes the decisions.鈥�
Nurse said it’s on him to keep the team upbeat with the postseason approaching.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to pick ourselves up,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 the leader of the team, I鈥檝e got to pick the guys up and they鈥檒l understand the situation and we鈥檝e got to be professional and we鈥檝e got to go try to figure it out the best we can.鈥�
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