Embiid’s Recent Surgery Deemed Successful

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

#GOD pic.twitter.com/UdeNyBj3Lm

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) August 18, 2015

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The first appearance of Joel Embiid on social media in over a month was a picture of him in a hospital bed, following a 3-hour procedure at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. And why not, when that’s all everyone’s been able to speculate upon since this summer’s shocking announcement that his foot was not healing as anticipated, followed by the disclosure that a second surgery would be needed, the delay in the surgery timeline, and all the associated drama.

Embiid had a team of 5 doctors involved with the surgery, a group which included Dr. Martin O’Malley, the same doctor who did Kevin Durant’s bone graft in the same hospital earlier this year, as well as Dr. Richard Ferkel, who performed Embiid’s initial surgery last year. The procedure involved 2 screws being replaced and a bone graft using bone from Embiid’s hip, which just sounds incredibly painful and I can’t blame Joel for second-guessing the surgery for a while.

The reports are that Embiid has ‘been put in a great position to support full recovery’. While you never hear ‘this surgery went very poorly’ in regard to procedures with sports stars, it’s still reason for optimism about Embiid’s future prospects.

After going radio silent for weeks following the passing of Embiid’s original ‘7-10 days’ deadline, the Sixers were more proactive this time around about keeping the public informed of the proceedings. The team issued statements from Sam Hinkie, Dr. O’Malley, and an additional member of the Sixers’ medical staff. After the original delay in surgery, which was revealed to be due to Embiid’s hesitancy about the situation, I’m sure the team wants to repair their PR image as much as possible with the fanbase.

As great as it is that the surgery by all accounts went well, only time will tell what the future will hold for Embiid and the Sixers. There still exist a wide range of possibilities stemming from this type of injury, from going on to having a long career like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, to having his playing days stopped almost immediately like Yao Ming. With Embiid set to miss the 2015-16 season, it will be at least over 2 years since he played a competitive basketball game when he can first try to make a return next year. Hopefully by then, the lowest periods of his professional life will be in the rear view mirror.