Reportedly, Philadelphia 76ers’ star Joel Embiid has undergone treatment for Bell’s palsy in recent days.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Embiid opted to keep this health issue confidential after it emerged during the team’s play-in victory against the Miami Heat.
This from Woj:
“ESPN Sources: Sixers star Joel Embiid has been treated for a mild case of Bell’s palsy for the past week. The condition began during the play-in victory over Miami but he has wanted to keep it private to avoid distractions for his team.”
It’s certainly a relief that it is just a mild case for Embiid.
The Mayo Clinic says the following regarding the condition:
“Bell’s palsy is a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face. Often the weakness is short-term and improves over weeks. The weakness makes half of the face appear to droop. Smiles are one-sided, and the eye on the affected side is hard to close.”
Woj continued on X:
“There had been some speculation about why he had been wearing sunglasses and whether there was an issue with his eyes, but that was related to the Bell’s palsy — which impacts facial muscles in one-half of face. Embiid had 50 points in Game 3 victory over Knicks tonight.”
As Woj noted, Embiid dropped 50 points in the 76ers Game 3 victory over the New York Knicks Thursday night so the condition doesn’t appear to be affecting his play.
The 76ers will now try to even the playoff series at 2-2 as Game 4 is set to take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Sunday.
