Former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid has been cleared to play Friday night in the Philadelphia 76ers’ final exhibition game, a home contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 31-year-old center last played Feb. 22 and appeared in only 19 games last season and 39 in 2023-24, primarily due to knee injuries.
He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April.
The No. 3 overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft, Embiid missed his first two seasons due to injury. Since then, he has been an All-Star seven times and was named first-team All-NBA and MVP in 2022-23, when he led the league with an average of 33.1 points and added 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 66 games.
Embiid has career averages of 27.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 blocks per game.
The Sixers still are awaiting the return of Paul George (knee) and Jared McCain (knee, thumb), who will not be ready to play in the team’s season opener Wednesday at the Boston Celtics.
Short-handed seemingly every game, the 76ers finished last season with a 24-58 record, down from a 47-35 mark in 2023-24 and back-to-back 50-win campaigns in the two preceding seasons. They missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years.