76ers Superstar Center Joel Embiid Brings the Masked Magic Back to the NBA Court

Cameroonian-American professional basketball player Joel Embiid is undeniably a future Hall of Famer. The superstar athlete plays for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA, where his remarkable skills have made him one of the league's top players.

However, his path to success has been anything but smooth. Throughout his career, Embiid has battled multiple foot and knee injuries that have kept him off the court.

Plus, over the years, Joel Embiid has also been seen wearing a mask on several occasions, and we're here to explain why.

Joel Embiid is no stranger to wearing a mask on the basketball court, as quite a few facial injuries have frequently forced him to don the protective gear throughout his career. His most recent injury, a sinus fracture, emerged in December 2024, prompting him to wear the mask once again.

This marks the third facial fracture of Embiid's professional career. Thankfully, 76ers head coach Nick Nurse has assured fans and the media that this most recent injury is "not nearly as severe" as the previous two.

Embiid sustained the injury during the first half of the 76ers' 121-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. While going up for a defensive rebound, Embiid was struck in the face by Pacers shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin. The impact left Embiid with a sinus fracture, leading to his decision to wear a mask for protection.

"The only thing that I can compare it to, but I wasn't here, but he certainly had those other ones that were a lot worse," Nick Nurse told the press. "It's not nearly as severe as those two from what they tell me. So I guess that's good because those were pretty tough — those two — and they say it's not as bad as that."

Embiid's first significant facial injury occurred in 2018 when he fractured his left orbital bone after a collision with his own teammate, Markelle Fultz. This injury was a major setback, as it required surgery and forced Embiid to miss the final eight games of the regular season. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there — he also had to sit out the first two games of the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

Luckily, he returned for Game 3 of the 76ers first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat. There, he wore a mask and deemed himself "The Phantom of the Process."

Fast forward to April 2022, when Embiid once again found himself on the receiving end of yet another facial injury. In the 76ers' series-clinching Game 6 win against the Toronto Raptors, Embiid was struck in the face by an elbow from Raptors forward Pascal Siakam.

The blow fractured Embiid's right orbital bone, and this brutal injury, coupled with a mild concussion, benched the seven-time NBA All-Star for the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals. He returned for Game 3, but the 76ers ended up losing the series.