76ers' Joel Embiid Says Injury 'Took a Toll' on Mental Health: 'It Was Depressing'

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid returned to the court Tuesday night after spending eight weeks recovering from a knee surgery that he says affected his mental health.

"Usually, when I have injuries, I just tell myself, move on to the next one, get better and then fix it. But this one took a toll mentally, being depressed ... It was not a good one," Embiid told reporters following Philadelphia's 109-105 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"So, still not where I'm supposed to be, especially mentally, but I just love to play and love basketball and I want to play and any chance that I can be out there, I'm going to take it."

Embiid injured his meniscus in a Jan. 30 loss to the Golden State Warriors and underwent surgery on his knee a week later.

The 30-year-old missed 29 games while recovering from surgery, and the 76ers crashed in the Eastern Conference standings in his absence, going 11-18. They now sit eighth in the conference with a 41-35 record and are fighting to avoid the play-in tournament.

In his return to the court Tuesday night, Embiid notched 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals in roughly 29 minutes. For his first game back, those numbers are solid, but he's looking forward to returning to the dominant force he was pre-injury.

"For some reason this injury was just ... It was disappointing," he said. "It was depressing. It took me a while to get over it, and I still haven't gotten over it. So just got to take it day by day, look at the positive.

"I'm back. So, hopefully every single day, try to get better and get back to myself."

Embiid dealt with injuries before suffering his meniscus ailment, but he was still putting up MVP-level numbers, averaging 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.1 steals in 34 games while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from deep.

Embiid has six more games to continue to ramp up for the postseason. While he's not 100 percent, just having him back on the floor is huge for Philadelphia as it looks to gain some momentum heading into the playoffs.