Joel Embiid battling mild case of Bell’s palsy on left side of his face: ‘I’m not going to quit’

Why me?

Joel Embiid says that to himself every day.

Why does the 76ers’ future Hall of Fame center always have to deal with injuries and ailments?

As has been an annual occurrence, Embiid is dealing with a banged up knee in the first-round series with the New York Knicks. And after scoring a playoff career-high 50 points on 13-for-19 shooting to lead the Sixers to a 125-114 Game 3 victory, it was revealed that he has a mild case of Bell’s palsy.

Embiid said he’s been dealing with the condition since a couple of days before the Sixers’ NBA Play-In Tournament victory over the Miami Heat on April 17.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid was everything in Game 3: Maddening, marvelous, savior of a series

“It is unfortunate,” he said of his ailments and injuries. “Every single year you start asking yourself questions like, why? Every single year, it’s very annoying. Maybe, it’s just meant to be. I just got to take it as it is. But the one thing I’m not going to do is give up. No matter what happens. I gotta keep pushing, keep fighting, and keep putting my body in the line for my family, for this city, for this team.

“I can’t sit back and be like every single time, ‘I feel bad about myself. Why me?’”

Even though this occurrence goes through his mind, Embiid is focused on doing the best job possible to prepare himself every day.

“No matter what happens, if I win, if I don’t, I just know that at the end of when I’m done, I’m going to be proud of myself,” he said, “And my people are going to be proud of me.”

Embiid has been receiving treatment for his Bell’s palsy for the past week. It has impacted the facial muscles on the left side of his face. Embiid wore sunglasses during Thursday’s postgame news conference. He also wore glasses after Games 1 and 2 in New York. He talked with his head down as a way to hide his face during his Game 2 postgame interview.

Embiid wearing glasses in New York led to questions about whether he injured his face while being whacked there in Game 1. Embiid kept whipping and adjusting his face during the first half of that game.

He began experiencing migraines two days before the Heat game. He thought it was nothing.

“Usually, I don’t like to check it out,” he said, “but for some reason, I ended up having to tell somebody. That’s why in the Miami game, my body, I was just not feeling it. I’m sure if you Google the symptoms you know what it is.

“It’s pretty annoying with my left side of my face, my mouth, and my eye. It’s been tough, but I’m not a quitter, so I have to keep fighting through anything. It’s unfortunate, that’s the way I look at it, but that’s not an excuse. I have to keep pushing.”

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid sets playoff high with 50 points to propel Sixers to Game 3 win over Knicks

All this comes while he’s essentially been playing on one good leg after returning on April 2 from tearing the meniscus in his left knee on Jan. 30. Embiid has tweaked the knee twice since his return. The last time came during Saturday’s Game 1 loss.

But he’s managed to average 37.6 points and 8.6 rebounds in the three playoffs games. On Thursday, Embiid joined Hall of Famers Allen Iverson (three times) and Billy Cunningham (once) as the only players in franchise history to score 50-plus points in a playoff game.

This performance made Embiid the first player in NBA history with at least 50 points on fewer than 20 shot attempts in a playoff game.

He has no idea what the timetable is for his recovery from Bell’s palsy.

“It hasn’t really necessarily gotten better,” he said. “Just based off the conversations that I have had, it could be weeks, it could be months. I just hope that it can stay like this. I have a beautiful face.

“My mouth is looking yellowy, but like I said, unfortunate situation, but everything happens for a reason. Like I said, I have to take care of myself mentally.”

In regards to his knee, Embiid said he’s just trying to keep pushing it. It’s obvious that it is bothering him. He’s often slow to react on defense and can’t get to rebounds that he normally does. His production declined in the fourth quarter of Games 1 and 2.

“Like I said, I’m not going to quit,” Embiid said. “If it’s on one leg, I’m still going to go out there and try, but that’s not an excuse. Have to keep playing better, and better, and better. Tonight I got lucky, I made a few shots.

“I have to find a way to rebound, and I don’t even necessarily care about rebounds, I just have to make sure my man doesn’t get it. Box out my man and take him out of the play. Whatever it takes to win.”