DECEMBER 21, 5:42pm: Embiid will not play tonight, Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia tweets. The big man went through warmups, however.
DECEMBER 21, 11:18am: Embiid has been upgraded to questionable for Thursday night’s game against the Raptors, tweets Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia. While that doesn’t mean he’ll play tonight, it’s a sign that Embiid is nearing a return, perhaps even before Monday’s Christmas Day game.
DECEMBER 20, 6:20pm: Injuries continue to plague Joel Embiid, with a back issue the latest ailment to keep him off the court. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports that big man will likely miss the next two games, though he’s expected to return to action against the Knicks on Monday.
The Sixers looked like a playoff team earlier this season, something fueled in part by Embiid’s success. The Cameroon native has missed seven games this season, including that last two, and Philadelphia has lost six of those contests.
Embiid, who is averaging 24.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game this season, signed a massive five-year, $146.5MM extension back in October. The deal included unique clauses which protect the Sixers, allowing them to waive Embiid without paying him his full guaranteed salary if he misses 25 or more regular season games or fails to play at least 1,650 minutes in a season as a result of specifically named injuries. Those clauses do not kick in until next season, though it’s worth noting that the named injuries include Embiid’s back.
It’s extremely unlikely that Philadelphia waives Embiid unless he suffers a catastrophic, career-altering injury. The center simply has too much talent to let go of if the team feels he can still play. However, the nature of back injuries, coupled with Embiid’s contract language, makes this a situation worth monitoring.
Trust the process, lol
It’s a process of elimination
Trust the doctors
Easy to troll everyone when you can’t stay healthy
It’s never too late to go back the “bust” conversations about Embiid.
He’s a beast though when on the court.
Yea, it’s not like he is Greg Oden out there. Embiid looks like the 2nd coming of Hakeem, and put up Wilt-esque PER 36 numbers. You can’t compare him to big man busts like Oden, Bowie, Olowokandi, Kwame Brown… none of them sniffed his jock as it comes to the level of play for Embiid on the court.
That’s completely logical, but if you’re not on the court then you’re not producing Wilt-esque PER 36. What he shows when he’s healthy is remarkable, but when you average healthy time with injury time, his numbers flatten out. Surely he’s no Oden or Kwame, but if he’s out long term at another point in his career you better believe he’s more bust than brilliance. This game is about being on the court.
seems like that 3 OT game got to him.
It was that one play in the where he fell into the stands going for a block, 2nd or 3rd OT.