Joel Embiid has been the superstar of the Philadelphia 76ers franchise for almost a decade now, but he seems unable to stop getting injured. His knees are his biggest problem, and the severity of his problems that stem from them might force him to retire. 

However, according to Chandler Parsons of Run It Back, he talked with Embiid, and says there might be a way to avoid major surgery. Embiid is thinking about following NBA legend Kobe Bryant’s footsteps, and getting shots in his knees in Germany. 

Bryant did this procedure back in 2011, called Orthokine, when his right knee was failing him. Dave McMenamin, who wrote the article about Bryant’s procedure, explained what happened. 

“Kobe’s procedure involves removing blood from the affected area and spinning it in a centrifuge,” McMenamin wrote. “Molecules that cause inflammatory responses are then removed to create a serum that is injected back into the affected area.”

For Bryant, this worked wonders. He was able to win an Olympic Gold Medal the next year, and played five more seasons in the NBA. 

This treatment was a tune-up though, according to Bryant’s doctors, and needs to be maintained. This means if Embiid goes this route instead of surgery, he would have to travel to Germany every offseason to get the shot. 

So, in the end, it’s up to Embiid. He either gets radical procedures that would put him out of commission for a season to fix his knee problems, or he gets shots once a year for the rest of his career. It’s only a matter of time till he makes his decision, and figures out how his career will go.

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