5:10pm: Embiid will be out for Thursday’s game in Utah and will undergo more tests on his left knee in the next 24 hours, a Sixers team official tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
7:34am: Sixers big man Joel Embiid returned to action on Tuesday in Golden State following a two-game absence due to left knee soreness. However, as Kyle Neubeck of AllPHLY.com writes, the superstar center was laboring for much of the game and didn’t look like himself.
Things went from bad to worse with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, when Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on Embiid’s left knee while scrambling for a loose ball (YouTube video link). As Kendra Andrews of ESPN details, Embiid immediately grabbed the knee and was in “visible pain.” He exited the game, didn’t return, and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after the game, head coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday’s injury was “kind of unrelated to what’s been bothering” Embiid, even though it appeared to affect the same knee. According to Andrews, Nurse added that the 76ers’ medical staff had cleared the reigning MVP to play and Embiid said he was “feeling good.”
“He said he’s more rusty — he hadn’t been on the court in five days — but he said he felt good,” Nurse said. “He felt like he wasn’t quite playing like his normal self, but he felt like that was more rust and rhythm than it was anything else.”
Embiid submitted his worst performance of the season prior to the injury, scoring 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting with eight turnovers in just under 30 minutes. Philadelphia, which lost the game by 12 points, was outscored by 21 when he was on the court.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently reported that Embiid’s left knee issues are something that he and the team will have to manage for the rest of the year, and a team source confirmed to Sam Amick of The Athletic that the big man has been dealing with soreness in that knee all season.
According to Amick, there was no immediate concern after the game that Emibid’s latest knee injury is a significant one, but there was a “strong sense” he’ll need to miss at least a few more games. That’s notable not only because the Sixers have slipped to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, but because the seven-time All-Star has already been sidelined for 12 games this season. Six more absences would cost him a shot to repeat as MVP.
[RELATED: Minimum Game Requirement Looms Large For Award Candidates]
Amick suggests there are people within the Sixers locker room convinced that Embiid only played on Tuesday because of the scrutiny he has faced due to recent absences — particularly Saturday’s in Denver. Whether or not the 65-game required minimum for end-of-season award winners played a part in his return isn’t known, but the sentiments expressed in Philadelphia’s locker room toward that rule after the game weren’t exactly positive.
“I didn’t sign up for that (65-game rule),” Paul Reed said. “I don’t remember signing no paperwork, you feel me? I guess the union okayed it. They probably didn’t have a choice though, to be honest. Yeah, it’s tough. It adds a lot of pressure to the players. We were just talking about that. A lot of pressure, especially dudes like (Embiid who are) trying to get MVP again.”
He’s done for. Such a shame. Good fight with him, joker and Luka this season
Brunson should be in the conversation with or without Randle he’s carrying that team it’s a shame nobody notices…I’m not certain but I think the only 2 games they lost in January are ones he sat out
How could any NBA fan not notice the Knicks since they traded for Anunoby?
They went 1-1 in the games Brunson was out.
Luka? Ignoring that two-time MVP in Milwaukee? Come on.
Even if he doesn’t get the MVP, and he plays in 55-60 games, scoring 36/12/6 w/2 blocks per game, ANYONE WHO knows Basketball, Wil know when the true MVP and most dominant player in the NBA is
Jokic…
He’s not dominant if he isn’t on the floor.
Apparently you don’t know ball, since you think a player who is in street clothes on the bench is the “true MVP” and “most dominant player.”
Time for Embiid to get one of those robotic knees that come with 5G and a free SiriusXM subscription.
Ahhhhhh HaHa ???
Dude just can’t stay healthy…
Combination of bad luck, fragility, and the way he flops onto the floor at the slightest contact to sell foul calls. Sucky that it happened, but it was almost inevitable. Wasn’t what happened in this instance, but it’s not really surprising either.
Also, apparently his doctors told him to fall on the floor instead of putting pressure on his knees? Which… okay?
So according to Eon it was a conspiracy aided by chance,Jojo acting skills and genetics according to this knuckheads thought process. Wow no wonder this country is in trouble.
Good job taking everything I said out of context just to be “funny”. Gold star.
“Wasn’t what happened in this instance” meaning “he didn’t flop this time”, you illiterate bellend. Maybe learn to read.
As a Cavs fan, I’m happy that our path is a bit easier now, but as a fan of basketball, I’m sad that he’s likely to miss a lot of time. The NBA is better when the best players are on the floor, and Embiid is truly great on both ends, much as I dislike his antics and think he’s not mentally tough. If he wins a championship at some point while still being productive, he might be seen similarly to Kawhi Leonard (super-elite talent who is rarely healthy). But it looks less and less likely as the years go by.
So he admits he’s just playing for individual awards?
No surprise there. Regardless of what he’s said in the past, it’s always felt that way.
Embiid should not have been playing last night. He has been suffering through knee injuries all season. NBA’s new policy pushing players to play away games is only going to cause players to exacerbate injuries. Embiid didn’t look right the entire game. Anyone with eyeballs could see his knees were bothering him. NBA cares more about profits than players’ health.
Embiid was barely playing any defense and wasn’t driving to the basket at all. He was standing around a lot. Shame on the 76ers putting him out on the floor when he was not even close to be 100% healthy.
The NBA investigated them after the Nuggets game because they ruined their Embiid Jokic rivalry narrative questioning the legitimacy of the injury. Now this happens. Hope Adam Silver is happy.
So if he doesn’t play he’s a Ducker if he does play he’s a sucker. Shame on the NBA.
“Oh no the public have a negative opinion I will bend to it and play whilst injured.”
Mentality of a sucker who got called a ducker…
Shame on the 76ers… The rule is great…
It’s not even that he chose to play without influence. The league was openly questioning whether he was hurt or not to the point of investigation so they could fine the team.
So what?
The 76ers didn’t get fined for it…
Good thing he went whole hog last year for that MVP he’d been whining about for years. Crowning career achievement. No need to ever get out of the second round now.
stop being babies and missing games for a hang nail. these athletes today are brittle
Like you know what playing pro sports is like and what that does to your body. You’re so soft, criticizing them from behind a keyboard.
Had no business playing last night
Agree
76ers should of said no…
But Thibs 2.0 I mean Nurse is the coach…
The 65-game rule is already doing more harm than good… If you want to prevent load management, just fine teams that do it. But now, top players risking an injury just to play a minimum number of games? That makes no sense and the NBA cannot afford it either.
Or the player could act like a grown up and put the team’s success ahead of individual awards.
They already have player of the week, player of the month. If you want to be eligible for a season-long award you need to play the entire season. Not that complicated.
Embiid should not have been playing last night. Now he will be hurt even longer. MVP minimum game rule is good and fair. If the MVP award is more important than a championship the team has big problems. they could easily not played him after the first quarter still kept the games played in tact.
For some players, such as Haliburton, it’s not only an award but a lot of money. Do you think they are gonna sit when they are not 100% if this means losing 50M or so?
That is the risk you take when you tie your compensation to awards. There will always be exceptions.
Sorry but…who gives a crap about player of the week or the month? No kne cares about that.
I respect the players that want to be the best and win individual awards, as well as a championship. I want to see competitors, not a “I dont care tournament”.
NBPA agreed to said rule so you can’t really blame the league for this. And I honestly think they prefer the current approach to the league handing out what they would perceive to be arbitrary fines (since how you can you definitively prove a player was load managing) left and right. That is the lens they tend to look through.
But in a vacuum I agree with you. Still think my team doctors vs league doctors arbitration process idea would be better than what we have now.
The minimum games played rule for Post-Season Awards and All-NBA isn’t about player availability. It’s about the owners not having to pay their players or as much luxury tax. The guys that are in the running for these accolades are almost always on max or near max contracts with a significant bonus due if they are named to one of those teams or MVP, DPOY or most improved.
In the past the writers have usually done a good job of taking the numbers of games played into account when voting. There shouldn’t be a concrete number, they should leave it up to voter discretion.
Voters got it wrong a bit too often…
Which opened the door for the owners to take advantage and find a way to lower their payroll…
This new rule is doing exactly what it was supposed to…
Make the MVP vote about the most valuable player for the season…
Not a player who scores 70 one night, but takes a third of the seeason off…
Availability is worth more than rarity…
Seeing Joel Embiid play hurt was…awful. As a fan, I would have rather have him seat a couple of games and come back when he is healthy and playing at the high level he has been playing.
This new rule forced him to go out there, it will make Haliburton lose 40 million and etc. These players are ACTUALLY hurt btw lol
I do think the nba needs to find ways to combat load manage, but this one was not it.
They are not forced…
It’s a carrot dangled in front of them…
They can choose health or more money/awards..
The rule is great…
And I imagine it was Embiid pushing himself to play with that in mind rather than the team doctors or Nurse. Well, you get what you play—or attempt to play—for I guess. He can only blame himself for that.
Perhaps Philly should think about trying to win a title instead of trying to win Embiid another MVP trophy. Philly should have told Embiid weeks ago that the 65 games wasn’t likely to happen. Making it happen means that Embiid will NOT be able to last through multiple rounds of the playoffs.
Haliburton is losing money from not playing enough games ….. He is still getting paid for the games he didn’t play ….
Fans ain’t getting refunds for tickets purchased that star players sat out with load management. Fans ain’t getting refunded for tickets purchased that one or both teams decided they were just gonna run up and down the floor (sometimes walk) for 48 minutes, and not care if they get drilled by 40 points. Fans ain’t getting refunds for the games with feature NO defense.
Barry ain’t is not a word. A organization forcing a player to injure himself further to win back to back mvps is a hmmmmmmmm interesting,instead of a championship.
Hmmmmmmmm is not a word.
“A organization” That should be an organization.
“Ain’t” is at least, sometimes used purposely for effect.
It’s a common sense rule, that shouldn’t have been necessary (no competent basketball reporter would even think of voting an annual award to a player who only took part in 75% of the season). But apparently it was necessary, and certainly would be if many commenters here had a vote.
The super max provisions of the CBA, which may tie All-NBA recognition to a higher max salary, are, and have always been, idiotic. Best just to get rid of the super max provisions or at least the tie in to All NBA. In any event, though, those provisions affect only a few players a year, at most. The tail can’t wag the dog. The league shouldn’t contaminate its post-season awards across the board just so once every few years a guy like Haliburton doesn’t have bear the idignity of the regular vs the super max.
How would you redo rookie extensions that lead to these super max deals then?
I agree it’s flawed how they’re handled now, but I haven’t seen a reasonable counter proposal to solve the issues that these deals failed to achieve…
And all that going back to how it was before the Super max will just lead to more trade demands…
I would eliminate the extra 5% deals for both RSC guys and the 7-10 players. It’s genesis and purpose is not what most people believe. This was not introduced by the players, but by the group of dominant owners (who are mostly owners of smaller market teams). It wasn’t to control trade demands, it was to prevent max level stars from getting to Free Agency, and it’s worked for those who wanted that. But, IMO, not for the league, or the game, as its increased trade demands, nor for the non-star players who can’t demand a trade, nor for those superstars that are excluded by the happenstance that they were 2nd round picks or no longer with their RSC team
However, if the league only wants to deal with the operation of the 65 game rule as to guys like Haliburton, they could de-link the extra 5% from All NBA. For instance, if you don’t play 65 games, then you can’t be All NBA, but you would still be able to meet the standards for the extra 5%, which could be tied to other measures of value. I’d also make all players in these age (years of experience) groups eligible, eliminating the tie-in to RSC’s and original teams. Of course the small market owners like the latter as another free agency inhibitor.
Oh it’s failed to keep the big names with the team that drafted them… It wasn’t to stop them from getting to free agency, it was to keep them on the team that drafted them… The owners thought more money would be the only thing needed… They were wrong…
They just take the money one year and ask for a trade the next… Free agency has died but the constant focus on whose going to ask out next has never been higher…
There needs to be incentives to stick around in the smaller markets, otherwise they might as well be G league teams serving as feeder teams to the big markets… Some kind of years of service thing that keeps going up until their 32nd birthday…
The league has no interest in keeping players on the teams that drafted them. Only in the formation of quality teams and keeping them together. Efficient player movement is essential to that and a quality product. If teams can’t compete in that environment, then there are too many teams.that but it makes for their argument.
MVP shouldn’t even be a conversation. It comes with the territory. Your team plays well. And you are the biggest part of that. Then you will be in the MVP conversation. Your game does the talking. Embiid is valuable to team. To be messing around with game management. Needs to be healthy for Sixers to have a chance. It’s not the teams or his decision. It’s a medical decision. And it should be made with his career in mind. This is why you have depth in sports. Especially in NBA where only 12 suit up. And you can only carry 15 players. Just get well player ….
The 76ers have let Embiid play too much in the regular season for too long…
He’s always gassed in the playoffs…
But MVP is attainable, a title harder…