Bam Adebayo will replace Joel Embiid as a NBA All-Star game starter after 76ers star was ruled out of the contest with his lingering knee injury

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo will replace injured Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid as an NBA All-Star game starter. 

Embiid will miss the game with a knee injury that has been bothering him for the last few weeks. Now, the reigning league MVP will miss the showcase, with Adebayo taking his spot with the Eastern Conference’s squad. 

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, who will lead the East All-Stars, made the official decision to elevate Adebayo. 

Embiid has not played since a January 30 contest against the Golden State Warriors when Jonathan Kuminga landed on it. After screaming in agony on the court, Embiid did walk to the locker room under his own power. 

Embiid leads the league by averaging 35.3 points this season, but is ineligible for a second-consecutive MVP trophy because of missing too many games with injury. 

Adebayo is in his seventh NBA season and will start his first All-Star game on Sunday night

Embiid was voted as an All-Star starter but cannot compete due to a lingering knee injury

This is Adebayo’s third All-Star game and was a reserve in 2020 and 2023.  

Adebayo will become the seventh Heat player to start an All-Star game, and the first since Dwayne Wade in 2016.  

Anthony Mason and Chris Bosh also started as injury replacements, while Wade, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and Alonzo Mourning were originally chosen as part of the starting lineup.  

Adebayo got the nod due to averaging a double-double this season with 20.2 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game. 

The rest of the Eastern Conference starting lineup is Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, and Tyrese Haliburton.