NBA player Joel Embiid has been open about a serious health issue he is facing off the basketball court.
After the Philadelphia 76ers’ win over the New York Knicks on Thursday, April 25, Embiid, 30, shared that he had recently been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a condition that causes muscle weakness on one side of the back, according to Mayo Facial leads clinic.
“I think it started a day or two before the Miami game [in the play-in tournament], and I had a migraine and thought it was nothing,” Embiid told reporters, according to ESPN. “It’s pretty annoying, you know, with the left side of my face, my mouth and my eye.”
Since his diagnosis, Embiid has noticed that he has blurred vision at times and has to constantly apply eye drops, which has become “tough” for him.
“But I don’t give up, so I have to keep fighting,” he shared. “But yeah, it’s unfortunate. That’s how I see it. But it’s not an excuse. I have to keep pushing.”
Embiid said it is unclear how long his Bell’s palsy will last, but it could be several weeks or months.
“I just hope so [my face] could stay like that. I have a beautiful face. “I don’t like my mouth looking away,” Embiid joked, adding that it was an “unfortunate situation,” but things “happen for a reason.”
“Like I said, I have to take care of myself mentally,” he admitted.
Embiid is also recovering from knee surgery in February, which left him unable to play basketball for two months and will require him to continue wearing a knee brace.
“I just try to keep pushing. Like I said, I’m not going to give up,” Embiid shared when asked about trusting his knee. “Even if it’s on one leg, I’m still going to go out there and try. But no, that’s not an excuse. I have to keep playing better and better.”
Even though Embiid is struggling a lot physically, he still shows up on the court and gives his best.
On Thursday, Embiid, who has played for the 76ers since being drafted in 2014, became the first player to score at least 50 points on fewer than 20 shots in the playoffs and was the second-fewest player to score on fewer than 20 shots in NBA history. (In the end, the 76ers defeated the Knicks by a score of 125-114.)
“The best thing you can do is prepare as best you can every day and that’s what I did. And sometimes you get the results, sometimes you don’t,” Embiid said in his press conference. “But if there’s one thing I can say about myself, it’s that I won’t give up. And no matter what happens, whether I win or not, I just know that in the end, when I’m done, I’ll be proud of myself and my people will be proud of me. ”