Joel Embiid sat out the beginning of the 2024-25 season regardless of taking part in within the 2024 Paris Olympics and never present process any offseason surgical procedures.
The mysterious flip of occasions led to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes questioning Embiid’s conditioning and dedication to the grind. Embiid would reply by engaging in a physical altercation with the reporter, resulting in a suspension that additional derailed the 76ers.
On Sunday, Embiid performed a uncommon sport — his fifth of the season — because the Sixers pulled off a 108-100 win over the Bulls. After the win, Embiid opened up concerning the mysterious nature of his knee damage, confirming that he isn’t coping with any structural harm however slightly a swelling that his medical workers has been unable to diagnose.
“Miserable,” Embiid told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps of his lack of ability to play persistently. “Simply making an attempt to determine it out. There isn’t any damage. Simply between the swelling … we have got to get it found out. That is it. I have been saying it for the previous few months. It has been extraordinarily miserable. It is one thing that hasn’t been found out, and it has been extraordinarily annoying, as a result of I might like to play each single sport.”
It must be famous that Clippers star Kawhi Leonard handled the same knee irritation in the course of the 2024 playoffs, a problem that held him out of the Paris Olympics and the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Very like Embiid, Leonard’s medical doctors confirmed that he wasn’t coping with structural harm at the same time as his knee swelled up repeatedly.
One can not help however sympathize with Embiid, who faced severe backlash for declaring his intention to not play in back-to-back video games this season. It is clear now that the 7-footer had a sound motive to make the feedback. After Sunday’s win, Embiid confirmed that he’d play each sport if not for his infected knee.
“I want I may have been taking part in from the start,” Embiid mentioned. “I might like to play each single sport, each single minute, however typically your physique simply says, ‘No,’ and you’ll’t do nothing about it. All you are able to do is simply hold working to repair it and get higher.”
A lot of Embiid’s critics made blanket statements with out really understanding the complexity of his knee challenge. As Embiid himself confirmed, “there is not any damage” however a swelling regardless, leaving each himself and the Sixers medical workers bewildered by the state of affairs.
Maybe Embiid’s critics had been a bit too harsh.