Is Joel Embiid retiring from NBA? Latest rumors about former MVP struggling with knee injury explored

On Friday, Joel Embiid's injury status was announced by NBA insider Shams Charania on X. This announcement comes as fans and analysts continue to talk about the former MVP's potential retirement.

Charania's breaking news dashed the hope of those wanting to see the Sixers center resume action on the hardcourt:

"Philadelphia's Joel Embiid has been ruled out for the season," Charania tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Charania and Ramone Shelburne wrote in an ESPN piece that Embiid had undergone imaging this week as he'd sustained increased swelling after a loss to the Brooklyn Nets last Saturday. This was the same knee that had received treatment protocols this season but had not shown much progress.

After playing just 39 regular season games in 2023-24 due to a torn meniscus, the 7-foot star saw action in only 19 games this season. Though he'd undergone surgery in February 2024, his busy schedule afterward — which included postseason games with the Sixers and a gold medal run with Team USA at the Paris Olympics — prevented him from adequate recovery.

Fans online have since brought up retirement as an option for the injury-riddled Embiid and ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith floated this possibility on Monday's edition of "First Take":

"Embiid looks like he can barely move. His health is awful," Smith said. "If you're Embiid, should you consider retiring? That's how debilitated he looks."

Amidst all this chatter, neither Embiid nor his camp has made any statement about his retirement from the sport.

Joel Embiid jokes about retirement in Netflix documentary on Team USA

A clip from a Netflix documentary shows a joke that Embiid made about retirement during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The clip shows Embiid chatting with fellow Olympian Tyrese Haliburton, who was making a casual comment about the big man joining him in Indiana one day:

"You gon' come to Indy? Come on," Haliburton said. Embiid responded with, "I might come to Indy. Syke! Never in my life. I'd rather retire."

Things, however, would take a turn for the worse as there is now widespread chatter about the possibility of Embiid retiring and his frequent injuries are fuelling those rumors.