SAN FRANCISCO – Joel Embiid did not speak.
At least not with his words.
The Philadelphia 76ers big man who had been ridiculed for three days after his latest disappearance, and whose MVP defense is in jeopardy because of the league’s 65-game rule that is putting so much pressure on his delicate situation, had no to do it. say something after leaving the Chase Center floor in so much pain Tuesday night due to an apparent knee injury.
As was the case on Saturday afternoon, when his late scratch against the Denver Nuggets sparked a chorus of criticism about his perceived unwillingness to take on a great teammate like Nikola Jokić, the horrible optics were enough.
Only this time, in stark contrast to that mishap in Mile High City, Embiid had suddenly become a sympathetic figure. And if someone was scared, since they had accused him of being in someone high profile media circlesIt was the Sixers team (29-17) that is now fifth in the Eastern Conference standings after losing 119-107 to Golden State.
It spoke volumes that Sixers coach Nick Nurse was excessively slow to attend his postgame press conference, or that his responses to questions about the left knee injury suffered with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in his fourth consecutive defeat seemed so rehearsed. It’s never a good sign when a team’s top front-office executive, in this case, the Sixers’ Daryl Morey, is roaming the back hallways of the visiting stadium seeking insight from the team’s medical staff. Every Sixers game that mattered most was clearly concerned.
As for Embiid, he chose not to speak to reporters afterward and prioritized an ice bath that lasted well into the night. That’s right.
The MRI results will determine how concerned these Sixers should be as they move forward on this title-contending mission. To sum it up for Embiid, he can only miss five more games before being declared ineligible for the kind of postseason awards that have shaped the greats’ legacies for so long. That is the microphone of everything. Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga fell on Embiid’s left knee The game was over, and his night full of laborious moves thankfully ended with Warriors fans wishing him the best as they left with applause and even a few mini standing ovations.
But the macro thing, and what should inspire fans and journalists to think twice before talking about this enormous man who is a basketball treasure when his body allows it, is that Embiid is clearly battling the same type of ailments. physics that have haunted him for much of his 10-year career.
As a Sixers source indicated Tuesday night, he’s been dealing with soreness in that same left knee all season. And although Nurse indicated that the injury that forced his late exit was somewhat different from the one that had been dogging him lately, the Embiid theme remained unchanged: He was battered and bruised even before February arrived, and his ability to be at your best. from here on he is suddenly again in serious question.
Have we all forgotten that the reigning MVP missed his first two full seasons with foot injuries, or that he has reached the hallowed 65-game mark only twice in the seven seasons he has played? There are shades of Yao Ming here, with such transcendent talent but that nagging sense of physical pessimism always waiting around the proverbial corner.
Embiid has already accomplished far more than the 7-foot-6, 310-pound former Houston Rockets big man was able to accomplish in his nine-year career that was cut short by injuries, but the unwanted parallels are there. Starting with the size.
You could see it a lot before he got hurt against the Warriors. Embiid, who missed Philadelphia’s game at Portland on Monday night, looked like a player who struggled to play against Golden State because the entire basketball world was screaming in his ear. There are people within the Sixers who are convinced that he played only because of all the scrutiny.
He was terrible by his lofty standards, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists, missing 13 of 18 shots and settling for jumpers on all but one attempt. Embiid has always lumbered up and down the court, but this was a level of intent and instability not often seen from him. And listening to Sixers guard Kelly Oubre speak after Embiid’s unfortunate night was a reminder that gravity has never been his friend. While Embiid weighs 7 feet and 280 pounds, it is widely believed that those measurements fall short of his actual size.
“(Are there people) putting pressure on him to force him to be great when he’s 300 pounds (and) 7-foot-5?” Oubre said as he exaggerated Embiid’s height. “Like my brother. … I think this year people will really understand that throughout his career he’s had to make sure his body is good. This is like NASCAR, right? If your cars don’t run and your mechanics aren’t able to do the work before the race, what can they do? They can not run.
“These are our bodies. Our body is our car and we have to treat it with respect. He’s 350 pounds, bro. So you know, I’m praying for him that he recovers soon, so that he can come and give himself the best chance. But at the end of the day that’s not important. His body and his career are the most important thing.”
So maybe we all should have dug a little deeper before tearing him down for his absence in Denver. A truly included server.
There was the evidence that was largely ignored since Thursday night’s game against Indiana when Embiid went down midway through the second quarter and That same left knee seemed to hurt. that would be his downfall in Denver. However, he played well against the Pacers and finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes.
Fast forward two nights, and it was completely fair to wonder why Embiid wasn’t on the injury report before the Nuggets game (and make no mistake, the league has been investigating that very issue). But the criticism for his absence went much further.
Embiid was considered a coward in some circles, someone who would rather be booed (and he was) than face Jokić in his building. Never mind that he had just beaten Jokić in Philadelphia. less than two weeks before.
However, while it is true that Embiid has not played in Denver since 2019, and has now missed six of their eight games in the Mile High City, while Jokić has played every time, context is very important here. A quick recap to be fair to Embiid.
His first two absences in Denver (December 30, 2017 and Jan. 26, 2019) came at a time when rest was an even bigger part of his rehabilitation program. And while they were the most suspect of the six, the fact that Embiid was still in the early days of achieving a sustained NBA career while trying to stay healthy was surely no small factor. However, the three that preceded Saturday’s absence (all of them after the last confrontation between Jokić and Embiid on November 8, 2019 – were different enough to merit examination.
- March 30, 2021: Embiid had been out since March 12 with a bone bruise in his left knee, and wouldn’t return until April 3 (two games later against Minnesota). This one is indisputably legitimate.
- November 18, 2021: Embiid missed his sixth straight game after entering the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. He was away from November 6 to 27. Also legit.
- March 27, 2023: embedded He sits with pain in his right calf. He would play the game before and after. This one, it’s safe to say, can be up for debate.
None of which is to say that the story of Embiid not playing in Denver isn’t strange. But it is one thing to ask why this trend has arisen and quite another to attack the competitive nature of a player who is already worthy of being considered one of the greats of all time. Those hot takes seem cold in more ways than one now.
The same goes for premature endorsements of the league’s 65-game rule. While fans, owners, television partners and league officials have every right to want to fix the league’s load management dilemma, the early results here are enough to make one wonder if it may be necessary. review it due to unintended consequences. Is it a good thing that the reigning MVP is about to exit that conversation before we hit the All-Star break?
“I didn’t sign up for that (65-game rule),” Sixers backup center Paul Reed said of the rule that was agreed to as part of the league’s collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last April and extends until the period 2029-30. season. “I don’t remember signing any documents, do you feel me? I guess the (players) union approved it. To be honest, they probably had no choice. Yes, it’s hard. It adds a lot of pressure to the players. We were just talking about that. A lot of pressure, especially guys like (Embiid) who are trying to get the MVP again.”
Embiid being healthy is the only priority that matters right now.
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(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
