The 76ers haven’t played a single game yet and messaging on Joel Embiid has fans ready to jump off the Ben Franklin Bridge

The Philadelphia 76ers kick off their 2024-25 campaign at home on Wednesday night, squaring off against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and the Bucks. Milwaukee’s got a familiar face leading the charge, with former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers now calling the shots.

While the hype surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers should be vibrant ahead of tonight’s home opener, it has been anything but that. Fans were dealt a hand of the always-classic bad 76ers injury news just days before the season opener.

• Paul George hyperextended his knee.
• Tyrese Maxey suffered a thumb contusion.
• Jared McCain fell and suffered a pulmonary contusion.
• Joel Embiid is…wait a second…just “not ready to go”?!

The good news? None of these injuries appear to be long-term setbacks. George’s knee scans were clean except for a bone bruise, Maxey’s exit was purely precautionary, and McCain was released from the hospital without any concussive symptoms.

All that’s great to hear for Sixers fans, but what about Joel Embiid?

The easy place to search for answers would be the Olympics.

After missing significant time last season due to a lateral meniscus injury last season, Joel Embiid still isn’t ready to go and will again, miss tonight’s home opener and possibly a few more games.

Obviously, fans are frustrated and are now left wondering if playing for Team USA caused a setback in Embiid’s injury recovery which honestly seems like a pretty stupid place to point to given the fact that it’s October 23rd and the Olympics were two and a half months ago but regardless, the fact remains that the 76ers are telling fans that Joel Embiid isn’t back to full strength to start the season.

I have four questions for the 76ers’ Front Office:

1. Did Joel Embiid suffer a setback, either at the Olympics or at some point over the past two and a half months?
2. Is Embiid’s current setback going to linger throughout the season?
3. Why does Embiid need time to “ramp up” for the first game of the season?
4. Why is everyone in the 76ers organization so bad with messaging to fans and the media?

The 76ers claim this is part of a planned strategy to manage Embiid’s workload, a move fans have been begging for since Kawhi Leonard made “load management” a thing when he won an NBA Title with the Toronto Raptors.

As we know all too well, Embiid’s been compared to all the longevity masters, from Tim Duncan to Nikola Jokic, for years, with fans hoping he’ll prioritize his health and avoid unnecessary risks. Yet, here we are—still questioning whether his aggressive play-style and stubborn desire to be on the court are working against him.

I literally have no idea what to think but let’s try to work through the details together.

A Night That Will Live in Infamy: Joel Embiid vs Golden State Warriors

Down 14 points with 4:34 left, Embiid stayed in the game, battling for loose balls and taking risks, eventually getting rolled up by Jonathan Kuminga.

Last year’s fateful game against the Warriors is when Embiid suffered the meniscus tear that required surgery.

Embiid returned late in the regular season and surprisingly played well against the New York Knicks in the playoffs on one leg along with a severe case of Bell’s Palsy.

From there, it was all about recovery ahead of the 2024 Olympics – which after a slow start, Embiid proved to be a valuable piece on the Team USA gold medal squad.

Legendary performance by my favorite player Joel Embiid to help lead Team USA past the talented Serbia Team 🙌🏽🔥

Had to make a highlight reel for his big day 🎥✨Goosebumps 🇺🇸 Plz share 🙏🏽

• 19 PTS
• 4 REB
• 1 BLK
• 2 AST
• 8/11 FGM
• 2/3 3PM
• 1/1 FTM
• 26 MIN
• +15 pic.twitter.com/daDCceAJ6e

— Kris76 (@KlutchKris76) August 9, 2024

Again, blaming anything on Embiid playing for Team USA seems like a pretty stupid place to start to given the fact that it’s October 23rd and the Olympics were two and a half months ago- so what now?

The team claims they have mapped out a plan, deciding which games Embiid will play and which he’ll skip. Paul George’s early absence may have also nudged the Sixers to give Embiid more rest. Embiid’s absence to start the 2024-25 NBA season without a fresh injury to blame, is a major red flag and no one wants to provide any clarity to the situation.

I ask again, who the fuck knows what’s going on with Joel Embiid?

The answer? Anything but simple

The entire situation is bizarre and still, we don’t really have a reason as to why the 76ers’ messaging always feels deceptive when talking about injuries or Joel Embiid’s status at any point during the regular season or playoffs during his career.

If the 76ers knew about Embiid’s injury, they should have told fans probably after the Olympics that he wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season.

They would have enforced that message by saying that Embiid being healthy is the No. 1 priority of the organization and that until he’s 100% healthy, there’s really no point AT ALL in having him play through whatever injury at this point in the regular season. 

See? That wasn’t very hard. 

Instead, no one has any idea what’s going on. The 76ers were pushing home opener tickets for months and now, just a few days before things get rolling down at the Wells Fargo Center, Joel Embiid won’t play until…next Wednesday because he needs to…”ramp up”?

Give me a fucking break, man.

Do the Philadelphia 76ers think we are all stupid?

I mean seriously, the messaging cannot be any worse than that. 

Listen, I will defend Joel Embiid ad nauseam but at some point you have to look at the constant. Embiid has historically played through injury and my guess, is that he was able to overrule the medical and coaching staff the majority of the time. 

After yet another disappointing season last year, that no longer appears to be the case. 

This is likely the best roster Daryl Morey has assembled around Embiid—when healthy and if Philly wants to make a legitimate run this year, they need their superstar center in top form, especially when the playoffs roll around.

The NBA season literally does not matter in October. At the earliest, I would start paying close attention around Christmas. It doesn’t matter that Embiid isn’t playing tonight. Hell, I wouldn’t play him until after the NBA Trade Deadline in February. 

Let’s all take a field trip to Punxsutawney for Groundhogs Day and have Phil and Joel crawl out of the same hole to determine if he’s coming back to the lineup for the final three months of the regular season. At least the messaging would be clear then, right? 

Personally, I don’t want Joel Embiid playing basketball until 2025. Even then, id push til Groundhogs Day and leave it up to Punxsutawney Phil as a he decision maker on when he returns.

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) October 23, 2024

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