NEW YORK (AFP) — Reigning National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid will undergo a left knee procedure to repair an injury and could face an extended absence, according to multiple reports on Sunday.

The Athletic and ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported that the Cameroonian star center for the Philadelphia 76ers would undergo surgery to repair a displaced flap of his lateral meniscus.

While the reports said a timeline for his return is not certain, there would be a better sense of how long he will miss following the procedure in the coming week.

ESPN said it was not necessarily a season-ending injury but more would be known after the operation.

Embiid, the NBA scoring leader with 35.3 points a game, suffered the injury last Tuesday in a loss to Golden State when the Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga fell on his left leg as they scrambled for a loose ball.

Embiid, who also has 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists a game this season, had missed two prior games with soreness in the same knee.

At 30-18, the Sixers are fifth in the Eastern Conference, a game behind fourth-place New York and seven adrift of conference leader Boston.