Fake Outrage: Joel Embiid’s Knees and the Sixers’ Eternal Dance with Chaos

The Philadelphia 76ers continue to dance with chaos as conflicting reports came out this week regarding everyone’s favorite topic: Joel Embiid’s knees.

We’ll start with Sam Amick reporting that the 76ers organization knew that Joel Embiid’s knees were a mess before signing him to a $192.7 million extension.

That has to be the most overblown “report” ever right? Just nasty work from Sam Amick, who knows damn well that literally everyone from Cameroon to South Philadelphia, knows that Embiid’s knees have been screwed up ever since he picked up a basketball.

Sam Amick Pretends To Report on Joel Embiid’s Knees

According to Sam Amick here, the Sixers knew Joel Embiid’s health was as bad as it is right now & still blindly gave him the extension anyway.

If true… that is a huge mistake.

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— RB (@RBPhillyTake) November 26, 2024

Are Sixers fans actually mad about this? I’m sorry but I can’t believe that would be the case. Again, it’s not even a report from Sam Amick but rather common knowledge. We are literally talking about Joel Embiid—a guy who came into the league with enough medical red flags to make WebMD crash.

Let’s not rewrite history.

Embiid has always been an injury risk. This is the same guy who once played through a torn meniscus and re-injured it without missing a beat. His knees have been under constant maintenance, and the Sixers, in true Sixers fashion, decided they could “manage” it.

This is the same medical staff that gives every injury the “re-evaluated in two weeks” treatment. If a report dropped tomorrow saying Embiid lost a leg, most fans would just shrug and ask for a timeline.

Point Being: Joel Embiid’s knees have been a ticking time bomb from the start, and anyone acting shocked now is either new here or hasn’t been paying attention.

To their credit, the Sixers didn’t go into this blind.

Ramona Shelburne, who I consider as the one true source on Joel Embiid updates, reported that before the extension, the team consulted with six doctors, all of whom agreed Embiid’s knees could be handled with rest and treatment.

Six doctors? If they were related to the team’s medical staff I would believe it but outside of that, no shot right? But at the same time, what else were they supposed to do? Let Joel Embiid walk? Trade him and start over? Wait until next summer and risk paying even more?

The 76ers already extended Tyrese Maxey and brought in Paul George. You don’t make those moves without committing to Embiid for the foreseeable future.

It’s easy to throw stones at the Sixers’ medical history—Lord knows they’ve earned it—but this decision wasn’t reckless. Extending Embiid was a calculated risk, and frankly, the only logical move. Are his knees a concern? Of course. But he’s the reigning MVP, and you don’t let a guy like that go unless you’re ready to blow it all up. The Sixers clearly aren’t there yet.

What’s frustrating is the context around it. Paul George’s injury history is a running joke, and Maxey’s already missed time. If Embiid’s knees give out over the next 65 games, the team is staring down a 30-win season and no first-round pick because OKC will snag it if it falls outside the top six.

This is the nightmare scenario—a team stuck in the NBA’s dreaded middle ground, the same purgatory that led to The Process in the first place.

Still, this outrage over Embiid’s extension feels misplaced. The Sixers knew what they were getting into, and so did everyone else. They didn’t screw this up. They took a calculated gamble on the guy who is their franchise. You can blame them for a lot, but this isn’t one of those times.

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