SAN FRANCISCO — Joel Embiid didn’t speak.
Not his words, anyway.
The Philadelphia 76ers big man has been teased for three days after his latest absence, and with the league’s 65-game rule putting so much pressure on his sensitive situation, his MVP defense is in a tight spot early on. In danger, but he didn’t have to say anything late Tuesday night after he left the Chase Center floor in such pain with an apparent knee injury.
As was the case on Saturday afternoon, when his late scrape against the Denver Nuggets prompted a chorus of criticism about his unwillingness to take on a great teammate like Nikola Jokic. The visual effect is enough.
Only this time, in stark contrast to the disaster in the Mile High City, Embiid suddenly became a sympathetic figure. If anyone is scared, as he’s been accused of by some high-profile media circles, it’s the 76ers (29-17), who now find themselves atop the Eastern Conference standings after losing 119-107 to the Golden State Warriors Ranked fifth.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse took an excruciatingly slow approach to his postgame press conference, or his response to a question about his injured left knee with 4 minutes and 4 seconds left in their fourth straight loss seemed rehearsed. This all illustrates the point. When a team’s top front office executive (in this case, the 76ers’ Daryl Morey) patrols the back hallways of a visiting team’s arena seeking the perspective of the team’s medical staff, it’s never a good sign. All of the Sixers’ most important parties are clearly worried.
As for Embiid, he chose not to speak to reporters after the game, instead prioritizing an ice bath that lasted well into the night. And for good reason.
The MRI results will determine how concerned these Sixers need to be as they move forward with this title-contesting mission. As far as Embiid’s resume goes, he could miss no more than five more games before being ruled ineligible for the postseason award that has long shaped the great man’s legacy. That’s the microcosm of it all. Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga fell on Embiid’s left knee late in the game, his night filled with laborious moves mercifully coming to an end as Warriors fans cheered and wished him well as he came off the court, even giving him a There were some small standing ovations.
But the big picture, and the thing that should inspire fans and reporters to think twice, is how we discuss this vast basketball treasure when Embiid’s body allows, and Embiid is very clearly going through the same situation. Physical ailments plagued his career for 10 years.
His left knee has been sore all season, as a Sixers source revealed Tuesday night. While Nurse said the injury that forced his late exit was different from the ones that have plagued him recently, Embiid’s theme remains the same: He was taking hits and bruises before February arrived, and he had The ability to be at one’s best from now on is suddenly again in serious doubt.
Have we all forgotten that the reigning MVP missed his first two full seasons with foot injuries, or that he only reached the hallowed 65-game mark twice in his seven seasons there? There are hints of Yao Ming here, so gifted is he, but that lingering sense of physical doom and gloom is always waiting in the proverbial corner.
Embiid has accomplished far more than the 7-foot-6, 310-pound former Houston Rockets big man accomplished in his injury-shortened nine-year career, but The unpleasant similarities remain. Start with size.
You could see it long before he got hurt against the Warriors. Embiid missed Philadelphia’s game against Portland on Monday night and looked like a player forcing himself to play against the Golden State Warriors with the entire basketball world screaming in his ears. There are people within the Sixers organization who believe he’s only playing because of all the scrutiny.
He had a poor performance by his high standards, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists, but missed 13 of 18 shots, hitting all but one of his jumpers. Embiid has always lumbered around the court, but this level of tentativeness and instability isn’t common with him. Hearing Sixers guard Kelly Oubre discuss Embiid’s unfortunate night afterwards, we’re reminded that gravity has never been his friend. While Embiid is listed at 7-feet, 280 pounds, those measurements are widely believed to be lower than his actual size.
“(There’s) pressure on him to be great at 300 pounds (and) 7-foot-5?” Oubre said while exaggerating Embiid’s height. “It’s like, come on, man. … I think this year, people are going to really understand that he’s got to make sure he’s healthy throughout his career. It’s like NASCAR, right? If their car doesn’t work right , and their mechanics couldn’t really get the job done before the race, so what could they do? They couldn’t race.
“It’s our body. Our body is our car and we have to respect it. He’s 350 pounds, man. So you know, I’m praying for him and hoping he gets well soon so he can go out there and give himself Best chance. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. His body and his career are the most important.”
So maybe we should all dig a little deeper here before ruining him for his absence in Denver. Yours is indeed included.
There was some evidence that was largely ignored on Thursday night against Indiana, when Embiid went down midway through the second quarter and appeared to injure the same left knee he had in Denver. Still, he held on against the Pacers and finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes.
Fast forward two nights, and we could totally wonder why Embiid wasn’t on the injury report for the Nuggets game (no doubt the league has been investigating the matter). But the criticism of his absence goes further than that.
In some circles, Embiid is considered a coward who would rather be booed (which he is) than take on Jokic in his own building. Never mind that he just beat Jokic less than two weeks ago in Philadelphia.
However, while Embiid hasn’t played in Denver since 2019 and has now missed six of their eight games in the Mile High City, while Jokic has played each time, here’s Context is very important. To be fair, a quick recap of Embiid.
When he missed the previous two games in Denver (December 30, 2017 and January 26, 2019), rest was a more important part of his rehab plan. While they are the most doubtful of the six, Embiid is still in the early stages of continuing to develop in the NBA while trying to stay healthy, which is certainly a no-brainer. However, missing the three games prior to Saturday — all following Jokic’s final matchup with Embiid on Nov. 8, 2019 — was different enough to warrant scrutiny.
- March 30, 2021: Embiid has been sidelined since March 12 with a bone injury in his left knee and did not return until April 3 (two games later against Minnesota). This is undoubtedly legal.
- November 18, 2021: Embiid missed his sixth straight game after entering the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. He was absent from November 6 to 27. Also legal.
- March 27, 2023: Embiid is out with right calf soreness. He plays the game before and the game after. It’s safe to say that this issue can be controversial.
That’s not to say it’s not surprising that Embiid doesn’t have a history of playing in Denver. But it’s one thing to wonder out loud why this trend is occurring, and it’s another thing to attack the competitive character of a player who already deserves to be considered an all-time great. These hot topics now seem tepid in many ways.
The same goes for the premature endorsement of the league’s 65-game rule. While fans, owners, TV partners and league officials have every right to want a solution to the league’s load management woes, the early returns here are enough to make you wonder if it might need to be revisited due to unintended consequences. Is that a good thing that the reigning MVP is exiting the conversation before we head into the All-Star break?
“I didn’t agree to the rule (the 65-game rule),” 76ers backup center Paul Reed said of the rule, which was part of the league’s collective bargaining agreement and was approved last April. , and runs through the 2029-30 season. season. “I don’t remember not signing anything, you feel me? I guess the (players) union agreed. Honestly, they probably had no choice. Yeah, it’s hard. It adds a lot to the players. Pressure. We were just talking about this. It’s a lot of pressure — especially a guy like Embiid trying to win another MVP award.”
Embiid staying healthy is the only thing that matters right now.
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(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
