Sixers confirm Joel Embiid will miss Wednesday's game at Washington, despite his 'April Fools' tweet

Gina Mizell, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 1, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Joel Embiid will miss the 76ers’ game at the Wizards on Wednesday with an illness, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey confirmed to The Philadelphia Inquirer Wednesday afternoon.

Morey’s confirmation when reached by The Inquirer came after Embiid took to social media to refute the team’s official designation that he had been ruled out for the game. Embiid said he played through the illness in Miami and intended to do the same in Washington.

Morey said that, after Embiid could not attend Wednesday morning’s film session, the Sixers decided he should get the illness checked out by a doctor and ruled him out for the game.

The Sixers were also scheduled to have a shootaround Wednesday morning at Capital One Arena, but instead held an extended film session at the team hotel and an optional individual shooting session. Embiid’s basketball shoes were laid out at a courtside seat when media arrived at the arena, before the team shootaround was canceled.

Embiid previously said after the Sixers’ Monday loss to the Miami Heat that he was sick during that game, after totaling 26 points on 10-of-25 shooting.

“Physically, I just was not in it,” Embiid said after then.

Embiid then was not listed on the NBA’s injury report released Tuesday night because, according to Morey, the center’s health was trending in a positive direction and the team did not believe his availability for Wednesday’s game would be affected. He then woke up sick again Wednesday morning.

Embiid is averaging 26.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 36 games.

Without Embiid, Adem Bona is likely to start at center. Veteran Andre Drummond is also available, and Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow are options as small-ball centers. The Wizards (17-58) are one of the NBA’s worst teams, and are tanking as the regular season winds down.

This absence occurs shortly after the former NBA Most Valuable Player returned on March 25 from an oblique strain in his right side that kept him sidelined for a month. Before that injury, Embiid was dealing with a stress reaction in his right shin as well as a right knee issue.

This is the latest injury-affected season for Embiid, who was limited to 19 games in 2024-25 and missed more than two months in 2023-24 because of multiple surgeries on his left knee.

The Sixers (41-34) are in a tight race for postseason positioning with seven games remaining. They enter Wednesday in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, one game back of the sixth-place Toronto Raptors and one game ahead of the eighth-place Orlando Magic.