Joel Embiid admitted after Philadelphia’s 2025-26 season ended that he entered the year unsure how much longer he would play in the NBA. After years of left-knee problems, the former MVP said he did not know how long he would play or whether he would play at all.
That revelation came after the 76ers were swept by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Despite the disappointing ending, Embiid viewed the season differently because he believed the long-running knee problem was finally in a better place.
For a player who has spent years battling injuries while producing at an elite level, that perspective puts his career in a different light. Embiid was not simply discussing one lost playoff series. He was describing how close he felt to questioning his future.
Embiid revealed how uncertain his future felt
Embiid’s admission came during his postgame media availability following Philadelphia’s Game 4 loss to New York. The 76ers had just been eliminated, but his comments focused heavily on the personal significance of completing the season.
He explained that he entered the season without knowing where his body would be, how long he could play, or whether he could play at all because of what had happened to his knee in previous seasons.
That made his description of the season as a success particularly striking. Philadelphia’s playoff exit was obviously disappointing, but Embiid was measuring the campaign against a much simpler question: whether his body would let him keep competing at all.
Embiid knee problems shaped the entire season
Embiid entered 2025-26 with significant questions surrounding his surgically repaired left knee. Philadelphia managed his workload carefully, including a minutes restriction and a policy of keeping him out of back-to-back games early in the season.
The approach helped him return to the court more regularly than the previous season. Embiid played 38 regular-season games in 2025-26, twice the 19 appearances he made the year before while dealing with ongoing knee problems.
His season still included other setbacks. He missed time with shin soreness, a right oblique strain and eventually appendicitis that required surgery in April. Those interruptions limited his availability even though the knee itself became less of a concern.
The numbers showed he remained an elite scorer
Even with his limited availability, Embiid remained highly productive when he played. He averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists across 38 regular-season games, according to NBA.com.
Those numbers reinforced why Philadelphia kept building its plans around him. Embiid has consistently combined size, scoring, and playmaking from the center position, making him a major factor in how opposing teams approach the 76ers.
His career production is even more impressive considering how often injuries have interrupted it. The 7-foot center has established himself as a perennial All-Star and former MVP despite missing his first 2 NBA seasons after Philadelphia selected him No. 3 overall in the 2014 draft.
The playoffs provided another test
Embiid’s postseason began later than Philadelphia would have wanted because he was recovering from an appendectomy. He returned for Game 4 of the first-round series against Boston, just 17 days after undergoing the procedure.
The 76ers eventually survived that series and advanced to face the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Embiid’s health remained a major storyline because Philadelphia’s ceiling was closely connected to whether its star center could remain available.
Against New York, Embiid missed Game 2 because of ankle and hip issues before returning for the series finale. He finished that game with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, but Philadelphia lost 144-114 and was eliminated.
Embiid’s definition of success was different
The playoff defeat would normally make it difficult for a franchise player to describe the season positively. Embiid, however, separated the team’s postseason disappointment from his own assessment of his physical progress.
He acknowledged that losing was difficult but maintained that the season was successful for him personally. The reason was simple: he believed the team had finally figured out how to manage his knee, and he no longer felt consumed by concern over it.
That distinction is important because Embiid’s biggest career obstacle has rarely been his talent. His challenge has been staying healthy long enough to consistently display that talent, particularly when the postseason arrives and the physical demands increase.
Embiid has already overcome an unusual start
Embiid’s career has included adversity from the beginning. He was born in Cameroon and did not begin playing organized basketball until he was 15. His rapid development eventually took him to the United States and Kansas before Philadelphia selected him in the 2014 draft.
His NBA debut didn’t come until October 2016 because of injuries, meaning he missed his first 2 seasons entirely. That delayed beginning made his eventual rise into one of basketball’s most dominant centers even more remarkable.
Since then, Embiid has collected 7 All-Star selections and won the 2022-23 NBA MVP award. His career has therefore followed an unusual path, moving from major uncertainty early on to individual dominance and then back toward questions about long-term durability.
The next chapter depends on his availability
Embiid’s comments provide optimism, but they do not remove the durability questions surrounding him. He played only 38 regular-season games in 2025-26 and dealt with several unrelated injuries after beginning the year under careful workload management.
Philadelphia therefore faces a familiar challenge. The organization knows what Embiid can provide when he is healthy, but maximizing his impact requires finding a sustainable way to keep him available through an entire season and postseason.
For Embiid, the most encouraging development is that his biggest concern appears to have changed. Instead of wondering whether his knee will allow him to continue, he entered the offseason believing the problem could be managed. That does not guarantee anything, but it gives his next chapter a more hopeful starting point.
Embiid’s admission puts his career in perspective
The most revealing part of Embiid’s comments was not his claim that the season was successful. It was the admission that he once entered the year believing there might not be much of his career left.
That perspective explains why he could accept a disappointing playoff ending while still feeling encouraged. The season gave him evidence that his knee could withstand a return to meaningful NBA basketball, even though other injuries prevented him from enjoying a fully healthy campaign.
At 32, Embiid remains one of the NBA’s most accomplished big men. His future will ultimately be judged by what he can accomplish from here, but his latest comments suggest he is no longer viewing his career through the same uncertain lens.
Fun fact: Joel Embiid didn’t start playing basketball until he was 15 in Cameroon, before eventually moving to the United States and developing into an NBA MVP.
TL;DR
- Joel Embiid said he entered the 2025-26 season unsure how long he would continue playing because of his knee problems.
- He considered the season personally successful despite Philadelphia’s second-round playoff exit.
- Embiid played 38 regular-season games and averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.
- His knee became less of a concern, although other injuries still limited his availability.
- The former MVP now enters the next stage of his career with renewed confidence that he can manage his knee.
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This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
