PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid is expected to play this week for the Philadelphia 76ers - barring another setback, and there is always that chance with the 7-footer - after he won Olympic gold, signed a contract extension, slogged through a knee injury, was the root of two NBA investigations, scuffled with a columnist and was hit with a technical foul for waving a towel from the bench.
Oh, and to make the season worse in Philly, the 76ers just aren’t a very good team without Embiid.
Actually, they’re one of the worst teams in the NBA.
The Sixers can only hope their fortunes will start to turn around Tuesday night when Embiid, a two-time league scoring champion, makes his highly anticipated first start of the season against the New York Knicks when both teams start play in the NBA Cup round-robin. Embiid last played for the Sixers in May when they were eliminated at home in Game 6 by New York in the first round of the playoffs.
A seven-time All-Star, Embiid returns from what the team called left knee management and the end of a three-game suspension for shoving a member of the media with the Sixers languishing at 2-7 and near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
“We’re not where we want to be without the big fellow,” first-year Sixers forward Paul George said. “Someone as talented as him. He’s the piece. We should still be playing at a high level and competing, trying to win games. No doubt about it, you get somebody like that, it’ll make everybody’s job a little easier.”
The 76ers’ woes aren’t all dumped at Embiid’s size 17 feet.
George, the expected free-agent signing coup of the summer, has been limited to four games this season because of a knee injury, which stuck him on a minutes restriction that cost him all of overtime in a win eked out Sunday over Charlotte. Tyrese Maxey, an All-Star last season and the league’s most improved player, could miss another week to 10 days with a hamstring injury. Backup centers Andre Drummond and Guerschon Yabusele can’t come close to matching Embiid’s elite production.
“I think we’re still trying to figure this stuff out,” George said. “I’m still trying to get in shape, get legs back under me. I’ll get these legs back under me. I think we show signs of just competing, playing hard. Just leave it on the floor. I think that’s been the message. Regardless of what’s going on, just leave it on the floor, play hard, maximum effort. That’s something we can all bring.”
In size and stature, the 76ers have centered around Embiid since his rookie season. Without a game played in his No. 21 uniform, this season has been full of hardship for the 30-year-old franchise anchor. Yes, some of the trouble has been his own doing, some issues have been intentionally murky and some is just simmering frustration brought to a boil over more games on the sideline.
By his own admission, Embiid says he won’t play back-to-back games this season, meaning he’ll sit out Wednesday against Cleveland. Sixers fans know the routine - tickets for Wednesday on secondary markets such as StubHub are listed as low as $10 in the upper section and for about $30 in the 100 level.
The level of belief in Philly that the 76ers will ever win a championship with Embiid has dipped faster than the ticket prices.
The 2023 NBA MVP, his latest kerfuffle stemmed from his issue with a Philadelphia Inquirer writer who mentioned Embiid’s late brother and his son - both named Arthur - in columns questioning Embiid’s professionalism and effort after not being in shape after he played in the Paris Olympics.
The NBA fined the Sixers $100,000 last month for public statements, including by president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and Nurse, that were inconsistent with Embiid’s health status and in violation of league rules, including the player participation policy.
The 76ers have been open since the preseason on how they intended to use Embiid this season - manage his minutes and games played to the point where they can safely navigate him to the postseason healthy for the first time in his career.
At this dire rate, what do they do next if there are no playoffs?
The upside is that only Cleveland - undefeated headed into Monday’s game at Chicago - and Boston have winning records in the Eastern Conference. Get a hot streak rolling with Embiid, and the 76ers are back in the thick of the playoff race.
Only Milwaukee and Toronto, though, have worse records in the East than the 76ers.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers might still be coaching the Sixers had Embiid stayed healthy during his three seasons in Philadelphia and was physically able to lead the Sixers on deep playoff runs.
“Joel didn’t do anything wrong,” Rivers said on opening night. “It just happens. You do your best. There are guidelines that every team has. We have science behind us. Joel is a big human being. He moves like a guard. There’s days in practices he’ll make a move and you’ll say to yourself, that’s not normal for a big guy. His body may say that, too. It’s tough because he’s such a great player.”
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