76ers’ Joel Embiid battling mild case of Bell’s palsy in health scare

Joel Embiid’s injury issues this postseason also featured a behind-the-scenes health scare.

The 76ers star has navigated what ESPN described as a mild case of Bell’s palsy, which, according to the Mayo Clinic, “causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face” — with that side appearing “to droop” and leading to difficulties with shutting that side’s eye.

“It’s unfortunate … got to keep pushing,” Embiid told reporters postgame, according to ESPN, while also adding that the condition has been “pretty annoying.”

Embiid’s condition was revealed after Philadelphia’s 125-114 victory against the Knicks on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center, when he set a playoff career-high with 50 points and became the first 76ers player to reach that threshold in a postseason game since Allen Iverson in the 2003 playoffs.

“There had been some speculation about why he had been wearing sunglasses and whether there was an issue with his eyes,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski wrote in a post on X before adding that it was connected to Bell’s palsy.

Wojnarowski also reported that Embiid’s health scare dated back to their play-in victory against the Heat, when he collected 23 points and 15 rebounds to help clinch the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed and set up the first-round series with the Knicks.