Joel Embiid missed the Philadelphia 76ers’ game against the Los Angeles Lakers, even though they won 118-104, due to a knee injury, bringing his total missed regular-season games to 400. Since the 76ers drafted him third overall in 2014, he has played 446 games, meaning he has missed 47.3% of the team’s regular-season games. At his current rate, he is on pace to have missed more games than he has played by the end of his contract.
Embiid’s career has been filled with injuries, causing him to miss a huge chunk of games since entering the NBA. He sat out his first two seasons entirely (2014-15 and 2015-16), missing 164 games before finally playing in 2016-17, though only for 31 games while missing 51. Embiid started playing more consistently after that, appearing in 63 games in 2017-18 and 64 in 2018-19, but injuries still kept him off the court for stretches.
Joel Embiid has missed 47% of games in his NBA career 👀
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 29, 2025
447 — Games played
400 — Games missed pic.twitter.com/8C6wrH6Z25
He played 51 games in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, missing 22 and 21 games, respectively. His best stretches came in 2021-22 (68 games played) and 2022-23 (66 games played), but the injury issues returned. In 2023-24, he played just 39 games while missing 43, and so far, in 2024-25, he has only suited up for 13 games while already missing 32.
Joel Embiid’s Career Stats And Contract Situation
Despite his injuries, Embiid has been one of the NBA’s most dominant players. He has career averages of 27.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 blocks, and 50.2% shooting from the field. In the 2024-25 season, he is averaging 24.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 45.2% from the field and 92.0% from the free-throw line.
Financially, injuries have not affected Embiid’s earnings. By the end of the 2024-25 season, he will have earned $265.8 million in salary. His contract will continue to rise, with $55.2 million due in 2025-26, followed by a three-year, $192.9 million extension. If his injury trends continue, the 76ers could end up paying nearly half a billion dollars for a player who has missed close to half of his team’s games.
At 30 years old, Joel Embiid’s health is still a major concern. The Philadelphia 76ers, who were supposed to be title contenders, are now 18-27 and in danger of missing the playoffs. With Embiid missing so much time, the team is reportedly planning to discuss his availability to figure out their next steps. If they decide to shut him down for the season, it would be yet another year where injuries have overshadowed his career.
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