After sitting out Wednesday’s win in Washington due to an illness, Sixers center Joel Embiid was back in action on Friday, registering 19 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists across 34 minutes of action in a home victory over Minnesota.
In his post-game media session, Embiid was asked about the unusual sequence of events that took place on Wednesday, when he took to social media to express surprise about being ruled out for that night’s game vs. the Wizards. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that day that Embiid, who had been battling an illness on Monday against Miami, was still sick and missed Wednesday’s shootaround, prompting the team to rule him out. He responded by tweeting that they “won’t let me play basketball.”
“I was pissed off,” Embiid said after Friday’s game (Twitter video link via PHLY Sports; story via Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice). “I wanted to play basketball. I wasn’t allowed to play basketball. So I think this is more of a question (for president of basketball operations) Daryl Morey and whoever makes the decisions.”
Embiid went on to explain that he was “pretty sick” in Miami, but was determined to play against one of the teams that was neck-and-neck with the 76ers in the playoff race. He added that he “felt a little bit better” in Washington but wasn’t able to sleep on Tuesday night until 5 or 6 a.m. and “couldn’t make it” to shootaround.
“Then after that, I found out online that I wasn’t playing that night,” he continued. “So yeah, that kind of caught me off guard and, yeah, that pissed me off. But then again, I guess they make the decisions, so it doesn’t matter what I think or not. I’ve just got to follow.”
As Aaronson observes, Embiid and the Sixers have long been cagey about providing updates about his various health ailments, with the star center preferring to keep the specifics of those issues as private as possible within the NBA’s injury reporting rules. While the 76ers have frequently been accused of a lack of transparency when it comes to Embiid’s health, they’re usually working with him in those instances — in this case, the team and the player were at odds over his status.
Embiid’s post-game comments put a damper on what was otherwise a very positive night for the Sixers, Aaronson notes, as the team held onto the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with a solid victory over another playoff team. The 76ers and Embiid will want to be sure they’re on the same page as the club enters a difficult stretch of games that starts on Saturday vs. Detroit and is followed by matchups in San Antonio on Monday and Houston on Thursday.
Making decisions in your best interest to protect your health, but trash them publicly cause you’re entitled child