With the Philadelphia 76ers set to take on the Washington Wizards, many were wondering about the playing status for Joel Embiid, including the big man himself.
Embiid is known for missing games during his career, including considerable time off for injuries. That included the first several seasons of his career, which were generally injury-plagued, and his last several seasons, where he’s played a combined 94 games.
In 2024, Embiid suffered a torn left meniscus, with the injury and necessary surgery ending his season early. In February 2025, the team shut him down for the season due to another left knee injury requiring surgery and a strained right oblique injury.
This current season, Embiid has suited up in 36 games so far, of an 82-game season. Recently, he’s been dealing with an illness, and that led to an injury update from USA Today’s 76ers journalist, Ky Carlin, who indicated that the 76ers said Embiid would not play in tonight’s game due to “illness.”
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Apparently, that was news to Embiid, who was unaware of it, and immediately fired off a message on X to call out what seemed to be an erroneous report or update.
“Must be APRIL FOOLS joke???? Played against Miami in the same conditions and I’m planning to play tonight!!! #SweatItOut,” Embiid wrote in his X message on Wednesday.
However, Carlin, to whom Embiid responded, posted another message in which the 76ers’ injury report still shows that he’s out for tonight’s game against Washington.
Carlin noted that things could still change for tonight’s game, which has a tip-off time of 7 p.m. EST, and features Philadelphia as significant favorites to defeat the lowly Wizards.
That checks out, due to the Wizards being a team in the Eastern Conference that won’t make the NBA Playoffs again, and will try another major star to help their team improve in several months.
Meanwhile, Embiid and the 76ers could help their postseason spot with their remaining games, as they are 41-34 and eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.
A string of 76ers’ wins and some losses by the Toronto Raptors and/or Atlanta Hawks could allow Philly to grab the sixth seed in the East rather than having to deal with a play-in spot.
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