Sixers’ Joel Embiid says he plans to return this season, addresses injury and

CAMDEN, N.J. — Joel Embiid wore a Sixers sweatshirt, held a basketball in his hands, and sat down in front of microphones on the final day of February.

Though absent from all games in the month because of his left lateral meniscus injury, Embiid has been rehabbing and confirmed Thursday that he plans to return this season. 

Beyond that, he didn’t offer any specifics on a timeline.

“It’s all about how I feel,” Embiid said. “Rehab is going pretty well. Ups and downs, but you manage it. The goal is just to try to get as healthy as possible and come back.”

Why is the reigning MVP aiming to make a late-season return for a team currently sixth in the tight Eastern Conference standings?

“The same reason I was pushing the last couple games,” Embiid said. “I just love playing basketball. I want to be on the floor. I only have about 20 years to do this so every chance I get, I want to be on the floor.

“It doesn’t matter where we are (in the standings) — four, five, three, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. It doesn’t really matter where we are, I just want to play as much as I can and try to help us.”

As far as that emphasis on pushing through, Embiid said he wouldn’t have handled the stretch before Jonathan Kuminga landed on his left knee any differently. 

Embiid missed five January games because of his bothersome knee, including the two prior to that painful, nightmarish game against the Warriors.

“It wasn’t (only) about those last couple games,” he said. “It was the same thing that was happening a couple weeks before, where I just felt like I wasn’t myself but I was still good enough to go out there because I know that 60 or 70 percent of me can still help the team a lot on both ends of the floor. 

“At the time, we had just lost two, three games in a row and guys were going down. Like I said, my mindset is to play, so I’ve got to do whatever it takes to help the team. Sometimes it helps me, sometimes it doesn’t.” 

Embiid called the injury “super annoying” and “extremely frustrating,” though he smiled as he described his recent shift to being more of a stay-at-home father.

“Other than rehabbing, family time,” he said of his last few weeks. “Honestly, this is probably the best time … my family, just being around them — my wife, my son. He’s loving it right now. I’m not going anywhere, I’m not doing anything. He’s getting too used to it. He doesn’t want me to leave the house anymore. 

“It’s fun, just playing around. Obviously he goes to school, but all day just hanging out and doing a bunch of different stuff. Family time has been great and I’m sure they’re enjoying it, too.”

The Sixers went 4-8 without Embiid in February. While they’d been trending up health-wise after the All-Star break, De’Anthony Melton re-injured his back in a loss Tuesday night to the Celtics and KJ Martin’s been sidelined by a right ankle impingement….