Updated: 6:40 p.m.
It's official.
Sixers center Joel Embiid will undergo surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee. The time and place have not been disclosed.
The team made the announcement a couple hours after ESPN's Marc Stein reported that Embiid "very likely" would need surgery.
Embiid's season ended in late January after just 31 games because of a pair of left knee injuries -- a bone bruise and partially torn meniscus. The meniscus tear was discovered in an MRI following the Sixers' win over Portland on Jan. 20, when Embiid suffered the bone bruise. He missed the next three games and returned on Jan. 27 for a nationally televised game against Houston. In what turned out to be his final game of the season, Embiid had 32 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in a 123-118 loss to the Rockets. (James Harden scored 51 points.)
The Sixers monitored the meniscus in a second MRI, and there were no signs of change. A third MRI revealed the tear was "more pronounced" than in the first two. There's a thought Embiid further injured the meniscus during a practice in late February.
Embiid was with the Sixers on their recent West Coast road trip and visited specialists in California to receive more advice about treatment.
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"It's all on the table. We're trying to do homework," Brett Brown said about Embiid March 10. "There's nothing, to me, news in what I said. It's just reviewing it all. He's got an inner circle around him that's helping guide him, and we're just taking all the information in. Ultimately, he's the one that has to feel most comfortable with it."
No timetable has been announced for Embiid's return, but Jahlil Okafor had surgery to repair a torn meniscus on March 22 of last year -- exactly a year ago -- and was ready for the season opener, albeit on a minutes restriction. The restriction was lifted on Nov. 21.
Embiid averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season. He shot 46.6 percent from the floor, including 36.7 percent from three, and 78.3 percent from the line.
CSNPhilly.com's Jessica Camerato contributed to this report.