Joel Embiid will be sidelined at least a week because of tendinitis in his left knee, the 76ers announced on Wednesday.
The All-Star center had been dealing with knee soreness at different stages of the season. He even sat out the Sixers' setback at the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 30 due to the knee soreness.
The team also announced that Furkan Korkmaz suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee during the Sixers' loss to the Boston Celtics on Feb. 12. The second-year guard, in the final year of his contract, is sidelined indefinitely and could undergo surgery.
But Embiid's knee was the hot topic at the conclusion of practice. Boban Marjanovic will start at center while Embiid remains sidelined.
"Evidently, it reached a stage where he felt uncomfortable with it," coach Brett Brown said.
Brown said the Tuesday's MRI revealed that it was "a little bit of tendinitis. It's stuff I think is quite common, actually."
Embiid started in Sunday's NBA All-Star game in Charlotte, finishing with 10 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, one assist, one steal, and a block for Team Giannis in a 178-164 loss to Team LeBron. He played 23 minutes, 11 seconds.
Brown doesn't think Embiid's participation in the All-Star game effected his knee.
"We'd all be making a mistake _ it's a natural dot connector and it shouldn't be _ to think that it had anything to do with it," Brown said. "In fact, when you speak to the medical people, one of the things at times exasperates it is time off."
Brown said keeping "some level of maintenance" is recommended. The Sixers' last game before the All-Star break was Feb. 13 against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He had three days off before the All-Star game. The team returns to action Thursday night against the Miami Heat at Wells Fargo Center.
"Maybe time off actually did more harm than good," Brown said. "The bottom line is nobody needs to read into anything here. This is an NBA athlete that has some soreness in a knee that's had an MRI. We should all move on."
While noting that the Sixers will miss him, he said move is pointed toward keeping him ready especially toward when it matter the most.
The center is scheduled to undergo physical therapy and "load management." He will be re-evaluated in one week. An MRI revealed no structural damage.
Embiid is fifth in the league in scoring at 27.3 points per game. He's second in rebounds (13.5) and eighth in blocks (1.94).
The Sixers have three scheduled games over the next week: Thursday at home against the Heat, Saturday at home vs. the Portland Trail Blazers, and Monday at the New Orleans Pelicans.
