Sixers rookie gives well wishes to Joel Embiid amid surgery recovery

BOSTON -- The Philadelphia 76ers are in the midst of doing battle with the Boston Celtics in Round 1 of the playoffs without the services of superstar big man Joel Embiid. The 2023 MVP winner underwent an appendectomy surgery on April 9 and is in the process of just trying to recover from the procedure.

The Sixers announced on Monday that Embiid has begun a strength and conditioning program back in Philadelphia. This does not mean he is close to a return to the floor, but it is a good step in the right direction for the big fella.

Still, with that being said, one has to wonder if the Sixers are thinking they can have him back on the floor as long as they can push their season out as long as they can. If they can steal some games against the Celtics, it buys time for an Embiid return.

"I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know his timeline or anything," said rookie VJ Edgecombe. "We wanna win. Regardless if he’s gonna play or not. We wanna win. We don’t want our season to be over. I mean, it would be great if we keep winning and he comes back, you know? But the most important thing is his health. We don’t wanna rush him and I hope nobody is rushing him in that sense. I just hope he goes through whatever he has to go through to be 100%."

With that being said, an Embiid return is very unlikely. Just looking back at other NBA players who underwent an appendectomy in the past, it's just a slim-to-none chance that the big fella is able to return. In 2019, OG Anunoby underwent surgery on April 11 and was not cleared to return until June 2. In 2016, Nikola Mirotic had the procedure on Jan. 27 and was unable to return until March 5.