Organizational Malpractice: Why did Joel Embiid play last night against the Golden State Warriors?

Joel Embiid attempted to play last night in the Philadelphia 76ers 119-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors. 

The result was Embiid hobbling around through three-and-a-half quarters before leaving the game with a knee injury. He played 30 minutes, scored just 14 points and added seven rebounds and two assists while shooting a miserable 5-of-18 from the floor and 2-of-6 from three point range. Embiid was a -21 on the night.  

Returning to the lineup seemed like good news for the Sixers, who got off to a miserable 0-2 start on their five game road trip after losing to the Nuggets and then to the Trail Blazers Monday night. 

However, the version of Joel Embiid that we witnessed last night against the Golden State Warriors would give any Sixers fan PTSD of his playoff performances. 

Embiid had no lift last night and zero touch. At one point, he literally had his knee buckled and fell to the court while trying to defend the rim. 

Joel Embiid falls to the floor untouched

Nah bro what the hell pic.twitter.com/hn9TJQqkxd

— Denver📈 (@doubledworth) January 31, 2024

On offense, he had zero touch. Blame it on missing the last two games or I don’t know, maybe the fact that he has a bum knee and this is how he always looks when playing injured?

Embiid didn’t play aggressive. His shots came up short time and time again. He defaulted to poorly executed jump shots and post ups where he was basically hopping instead of leveraging his massive frame to score buckets. 

There was zero trust to explode with his legs. Clear as day. 

Organizational Malpractice. 

Listen, I know that when your franchise cornerstone and reigning NBA MVP says he is “good to go” before the game that team’s most likely listen and give him a green light. That’s just how things work. 

But if everyone inside the 76ers organization just stopped and took a deep breath, it would have done them much better than to put Embiid out there last night. 

The knee has been an ongoing issue for over a month and a million different reports on the severity of the issue. I have even seen reports stating that this is something Embiid will have to deal with for the remainder of the season. 

Embiid’s night ended with Jonathan Kuminga landing on his knee. I mean seriously, what the fuck is happening? 

Jonathan Kuminga falls on Joel Embiid’s injured knee

Joel Embiid in serious pain here. Good god. pic.twitter.com/vm0r3INiuD

— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) January 31, 2024

This is just stupidity at its finest.

The Sixers should get Tyrese Maxey back on the floor in the very near future and then honestly, Embiid should be shut down for the next few weeks to allow his knee to get some much needed healing. Maxey, Harris, and the rest of this team need to find ways to win basketball games without Embiid. Period.

Note: The Sixers are 3-9 without Joel Embiid in the lineup this season.

I honestly thought Embiid was past making dumb decisions like we saw last night. What happened to Embiid wanting to be as healthy as he can for the playoffs. He’s not supposed to care that he might not “qualify” to win the NBA MVP because of the new (shitty) NBA CBA.

The only thing missing from Embiid’s resume is a Championship, remember?!

Nick Nurse! You were supposed to be monitoring this and preventing these types of decisions from happening. What were you thinking last night? I am VERY disappointed. Just shameful coaching and malpractice from your entire staff.

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