It’s heartbreaking: A very talented Philadelphia 76ers player has announced his sudden retirement, sending a powerful statement and bidding the team and supporters a heartfelt farewell.
With the conclusion of Joel Embiid’s sixth consecutive disappointing postseason, Doc Rivers was immediately working on a flawed blast of nonsense.
The fact that the most gifted player to ever don a Sixers uniform, skill for skill, seems to be chronically sore at the most crucial moments is just a terrible coincidence.
Who would have thought?
“You know, the kid deserves a break,” Rivers remarked following Boston’s 112-88 defeat. He does, in fact. He should get one chance to give it his all. We might not have won this series; I’m not sure. However, I would have cherished having him for a single, problem-free moment.
“It’s awful for everyone because neither Joel nor I have had that opportunity.”
Any sports plan, from team building to futures betting, must take into account the fact that injuries do occur. They are regrettable and distort results. However, it would be historical ignorance to suggest that the Sixers have been especially unfortunate because of Embiid’s ongoing postseason drama and trauma.
When they selected a player who was too injured to play in the Big 12 or NCAA playoffs during his one season at the University of Kansas, exactly what did they expect to happen?
Were they thinking that they were getting Cal Ripken Jr.?
The intensity of the Sixers’ bows could require a chiropractor, as Embiid has established himself as a Hall of Fame-caliber player with his ability to shoot, rim-protect, sprint baseline to baseline, pass, swish free throws, and occasionally go for a 50-burger. However, they were fortunate to meet Embiid in the first place.
The Sixers were dedicated to that wicked lose-to-win formula in 2013–14, and their goal was to be so awful that they would be selected as the first overall pick in the draft, ahead of Embiid’s Kansas teammate Andrew Wiggins. Even a mute campaign called “Lose for Wiggins” was launched by the easily tricked. However, Wiggins, who was selected by the Cavaliers after they won the lottery, went on to win Rookie of the Year, become an All-Star, and assist the Golden State Warriors in their 2022 championship.
The Bucks were next, and they wasted Jabari Parker because they couldn’t risk Embiid’s injured back. Embiid was then free to sign with the 19-63 Sixers, who were willing to take a chance on a player who could change the course of games.
Some shouted that Sam Hinkie ought to have chosen someone other than an injured player. Some people were jubilant, believing that the Sixers had just acquired the next Hakeem Olajuwon.
As it happened, there was a scenario in which two things could be true at the same time. Embiid’s constant presence on the injury report is the reason the Sixers are still losing in the playoffs after nine years. Even so, Olajuwon has improved as a player over The Dream, if with one exception: Olajuwon has won two NBA championships.
The faithful will sing in unison that Embiid’s damage is too great to keep attributing it all to the weak back that ended his time in college. He has also destroyed everything from his foot to the socket of his eye by providing a complete seven-foot copy of a medical journal.
However, Embiid’s back injury wasn’t the only thing that raised red flags for Kansas. Whatever the cause, he could not bear to try and help the team win a conference or a national championship. It was not as though he was hurt. It was that he got hurt right when it counted most.
Being the geniuses that they are, the Sixers would intensify their shell game by devising a more cunning strategy for losing in order to win.
They achieved this by benching Embiid for two full seasons at that point, by which time he had suffered a foot break. That would not only make Embiid more competitive so he could compete for the title of Mr. Olympia later in his career, but it would also give the Sixers enough losses to be able to draft Ben Simmons.
Despite the interest of the fans, even when the organization did start acting professionally again, they would regularly rest Embiid just to make him stronger later. Thus, there would be limitations on minutes. as well as load management days. as well as a ban on him participating in consecutive games.
All of that hasn’t assisted the team in winning more than one postseason series in a given year. On Sunday, they were all alone and had nowhere to go. For a career, the Sixers were interested in Embiid, and vice versa. He is a legitimate MVP candidate and one of the top five NBA players. However, he is too fragile to hope for a sincere exchange.
Thoughts? They could try to talk him into making fewer dives to the floor, thereby reducing the risk to his body. Not to put too fine a point on it.
According to Rivers, “going to the floor is not what hurts him.” More than anything, it’s all the banging and the contact.
It’s not pinochle; it’s pro basketball. When the Sixers hired Embiid, they were aware of the contact risk. Thus, keep in mind the past and spare them the yearly commiserations.
