Joel Embiid reacts to being diagnosed with Bell's Palsy after Sixers win

Apr 22, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) rebounds against Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry (7) during the first half during game two of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA — If it wasn’t enough that Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is dealing with recovering from a left knee injury, the big fella is now dealing with something called Bell’s Palsy.

After the Sixers defeated the New York Knicks 125-114 in Game 3 on Thursday, a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated that Embiid has been diagnosed with the ailment. It is something that is bothering the left side of his face. It has caused the left side of his face to be a bit droopy.

That would explain why he has been wearing sunglasses as of late and why his left eye has looked a bit abnormal recently.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but obviously, I guess that’s a normal thing,” Embiid said after the win. “I think it started a day or two before the Miami game and I had bad migraines and I thought it was nothing, but usually I like to check it out and for some reason, I ended up having to tell somebody and that’s why the Miami game, my body was just –I was just not feeling it.”

Per the Mayo Clinic, Bell’s Palsy is a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face. Often the weakness is short-term and improves over weeks. The weakness makes half of the face appear to droop. Smiles are one-sided, and the eye on the affected side is hard to close.

“Obviously, lately with—I’m sure if you google the symptoms, you know what it is,” Embiid continued. “It’s pretty annoying with my left side of my face, my mouth, and my eye so yeah, it’s been tough, but I’m not a quitter so I gotta keep fighting through everything. It’s unfortunate. That’s the way I look at it, but that’s not an excuse. Gotta keep pushing.”

There had been some speculation about why he had been wearing sunglasses and whether there was an issue with his eyes, but that was related to the Bell’s palsy — which impacts facial muscles in one-half of face. Embiid had 50 points in Game 3 victory over Knicks tonight. https://t.co/qd2WK4TpSb

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 26, 2024

When asked if the condition is affecting his vision at all, Embiid reveals that it does.

“I mean, the eye is consistently dry, blurry at times, so yeah,” Embiid explained. “I always gotta keep drops in it, but I gotta do it. Like I said, it’s really unfortunate.”

All in all, it is very impressive that the big fella dropped 50 points against the Knicks despite his ailments. Philadelphia is now on the board in this series and it will be imperative that it wins Game 4 on Sunday before this series shifts back to New York.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Joel Embiid reacts to being diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy after Sixers win