The Philadelphia 76ers came into the season with dreams of competing in the Eastern Conference. It has been a nightmare. They stumbled out of the gate and have been dealing with injuries to key players all season. One of those players is Joel Embiid. Anyone who follows the game of basketball knows the saga around the former top-five pick. His knee injury has limited him to 19 games and when he is in, he isn’t always effective. After a loss to the Brooklyn Nets last night, head coach Nick Nurse stated his star player is “not himself.”
Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid Injury Issues
The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Brooklyn Nets on a last-second tip-in last night. After trailing by double digits most of the night, the team rallied and tied the game. Unfortunately, Nic Claxton was able to grab an offensive board and get a last-second shot to drop. Joel Embiid played but did not look good. He only scored 14 points on 4-13 shooting. To make matters worse, he missed all six of his three-point attempts. It was a below-average performance, and after the game, Nurse talked about his star player.
“He’s giving us what he can. He’s not himself, we all know that. He’s not, certainly, the guy that we’re used to seeing play at a super high level. But I commend him for giving us what he can.”
Anyone who has watched the Philadelphia 76ers can see that Joel Embiid isn’t himself. In the 19 games, he is averaging 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. For context, during his MVP season, he averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds. He can’t play consistently and the road to being fully recovered may involve more surgeries. Embiid himself revealed he “thinks it will likely take another surgery and a long recovery period.” This is not what you want to hear from your franchise player.
Not Just Embiid
The struggles of the Philadelphia 76ers are not just because of Joel Embiid. Other players have contributed to the disappointing season. Paul George was signed to be an impact player. He has only played in 37 games this year and is averaging 16.1 points, his lowest since his second year in the league way back in 2010-11. Rookie Jared McCain was one of the bright spots but a season-ending knee injury cut a Rookie of the Year campaign short.
This happens sometimes in sports. A team cannot shake the injury bug. In the NFL, we saw the Detroit Lions season get derailed partly due to the massive number of injuries on the defensive side of the ball. This may be the kind of season the 76ers are having. However, they still have enough talent that they should be winning some of these games. The game against Brooklyn was one they should have won at home but they could not execute when it mattered most.
Final Thoughts
While this season is concerning, the Joel Embiid injury has far-reaching potential consequences. If this injury continues to linger, the team could be sinking a massive amount of money into a player who cannot play. This was supposed to be a team that could make a run. Now, they look like a team that is headed for another long rebuild.
