In recent days, Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid was ruled out for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season due to an injured knee. He only appeared in 19 games and was less effective than in the past. His shots were down, and he only managed to shoot 30 percent from the field.
There was some buzz on social media that Embiid could be forced to retire if he can’t come back and play a year from now.
If Embiid is forced to quit the game, he will join these great players who had to retire early due to injuries.
Yao Ming
Yao Ming came into the NBA in 2002 and was effective immediately. He was an all-star in his first season and quickly gained the respect of his peers.
The Rockets traded for Tracey McGrady in 2004 and thought they could win a championship with the duo. However, one year after the trade, Yao started suffering from a variety of injuries. He missed the playoffs in 2006 and 2008. He missed the 2009-2010.
He returned for the 2010-2011 campaign but only played in 5 games before he was ruled out for the season with a stress fracture.
In July 2011, he announced his retirement from the game at 30.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, along with Shaq and Iverson.
Chris Bosh
When Lebron left Miami and returned to Cleveland in 2014, Bosh spurned the Houston Rockets and decided to resign with Miami for five years and $118 million.
Unfortunately, Bosh and the Heat’s health went downhill fast. First, he missed eight games due to a calf strain. After the all-star game, he went to the hospital for lung tests, and they determined he had blood clots. He was ruled out for the rest of the season.
He returned in the 2015-2016 season, and it looked like his health issues were in the past; he was forced to miss the latter part of the season when his blood clotting issues returned.
The following season, he couldn’t get cleared to play. The Heat organization considered his career over, and in May 2017, they reached an undisclosed financial agreement that would allow Bosh to get paid while the team was able to remove his salary from the payroll.
Bosh had hoped he could sign with another team, but that never came to fruition, and in February 2019, he announced his retirement.
The Heat retired his number 1 jersey on March 26th, 2019. He was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2021.
Brandon Roy
Brandon Roy looked like a future Hall of Famer. He was rookie of the year, a three-time all-star, and all-NBA twice.
He was clutch and seemed to get better every season. But things fell apart at the end of his fourth season in 2009-2010. He suffered a right knee injury on April 11th, 2010. Five days later, he underwent surgery for a slight meniscus tear.
He returned during the fourth game of the first round of the playoffs. He played in three playoff games but wasn’t himself and averaged 9.7 points.
The following season, his knee continued to bother him due to a lack of cartilage. He only played in 47 games. He saw his minutes drop to 27 per game and only averaged 12.2 points.
He was worse in the playoffs, as he only averaged 9.3 points.
Roy announced his retirement before training camp for the 2011-2012 season. The Blazers used their amnesty on Roy to get them under the luxury tax and have financial flexibility.
When the Blazers amnestied Roy, his agent announced that his client had no plans to return to the game, but that wasn’t true.
In June 2012, Roy announced that he had returned to the league.
He couldn’t return to the Blazers and signed a two-year 10 million dollar deal with the Timberwolves.
He only played in five games before he was ruled out for the season as he required right knee surgery.
He was waived after the season and never played in the NBA again.
With his career over, he turned to coaching high school basketball. He has won three state championships in Washington.
Cuttino Mobley
The Houston Rockets selected Cuttino Mobley as the 41st pick in the 1998 NBA draft, and he quickly made an impact, averaging 9.9 points a game.
The following season, the team drafted Steve Francis. The Mobley Francis duo put on a show every night.
Both were traded to the Orlando Magic before the 2004-2005 season. Mobley was traded to the Kings in 2005 and later signed a free-agent deal with the Clippers for 5 years and 42 million dollars.
He never got a chance to play out his contract.
After he was traded from the Clippers to the Knicks in November 2008, doctors determined he had the same heart condition that led to the deaths of Marymount basketball star Hank Gathers in 1990 and Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis. in 1993.
Less than three weeks after the trade, Mobley announced his retirement at 33.
He later claimed he was misdiagnosed and tried to return to the league at 37, but he was never signed.