Sixers star center Joel Embiid, who has missed the first four games of the season and has been ruled out for Saturday’s tilt vs. Memphis due to “left knee injury management,” told reporters on Friday that his goal is to make sure he feels fully comfortable on his surgically repaired knee before making his season debut, as Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports writes.
“I want to be at my best. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m afraid if I do this I might do something or whatever,” Embiid said. “I mentioned it since the last surgery, I mentioned it so many times, it was probably the toughest mentally. I think mentally I’m just dealing with getting that trust back. In the past, it was just easy. But for some reason, this one is just like, mentally, trusting yourself and trusting your body. And I think that’s really what I’m doing.
“I’m almost there,” he continued. “And then with the team, we’re on the same page. I listen to them, they listen to me, and see how everything reacts. Been doing pretty good, going up and down five-on-five, and today was a great session with the whole team.”
According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter video link), Embiid experienced some “minor swelling” in his left knee during the preseason, which is one reason why the Sixers have taken a cautious approach with him this fall.
The former MVP has been scrimmaging for a few days, but Friday’s practice represented a big step forward because it was a live-action five-on-five session with teammates, rather than 76ers staffers.
While it sounds as if Embiid’s absence might not extend much further beyond Saturday’s contest, he was reluctant to name a specific target date for his return, as Neubeck relays.
“It’s unpredictable,” the big man said. “You can have good days, you can have bad days, so I think it’d be kind of foolish for me to sit there and be like, ‘Oh, I’m playing on Tuesday,’ when you don’t know. I played today and it reacts, you’re still getting back into game shape, still getting back to yourself.
“You need to feel 100%, because I think over the years, I’ve done a lot and I’ve put myself at risk for the team, which I’m going to continue to do. But right now is the time to make sure everything is great, which is trending that way. It’s pretty good right now, everybody’s trending the right way, and so we can go on and have a long season and a great couple of years.”
Embiid has faced criticism from some corners for his ongoing absence this fall, with Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer writing multiple columns accusing the 30-year-old of a lack of professionalism and ripping the Sixers for their lack of transparency.
Embiid, who said he’s doing what’s best for his body, pointed out that he has played through multiple injuries and come back early from others over the course of his career. He took exception to some of the criticism he has faced, calling out Hayes by name in his comments to reporters.
“When I see people saying, ‘He doesn’t want to play,'” Embiid said. “I’ve done way too much for this city and putting myself at risk for people to be saying that. I do think it’s bulls–t. Like that dude, Marcus whatever his name is, I’ve done way too much for this f—ing city to be treated like this. Done way too f—ing much. I wish I was as lucky as other ones, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not trying, and I’m not doing whatever it takes to be out there, which I’m going to be here pretty soon.”
Like Embiid, Sixers forward Paul George has missed the club’s first four games and will be unavailable on Saturday due to the bone bruise in his left knee. He’s also moving toward a return, telling reporters on Friday that he’s in the final stage of his rehab process.
“I think at this point, it’s more just cardio, getting the conditioning ready to go, so that when I do come back I’m not subject to any injuries because I’m fatigued and tired,” George said, per Neubeck. “I had really good two days of finally being on the court and practicing and running hard, being in live action, so the knee up to this point feels really good.”
3:35pm: Sixers center