NBA Rumors: What are the odds that a major schism will develop between the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid?
For nearly the past decade, the Philadelphia 76ers have been Joel Embiid, and Joel Embiid has been the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite the rocky start to this career (due to injuries), the two sides stuck by each other through thick and thin. That was, once again, tested this season as Embiid was absolutely decimated by a new knee injury that forced him to miss the majority of the start of the season.
This hurdle was so unexpected that it appears the two sides had two different realities of how the injury should be handled. That could be part of the reason why Embiid was so "in and out" of the lineup when he did eventually make his season debut for the team.
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, there was a point when the Sixers and Embiid were split on how to handle this most recent injury from the big man. The Sixers wanted him to get in better shape and attempt to play through it, and Embiid felt he couldn't. It got to the point, per Shams, that Embiid had to go to ownership to claim his point.
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers may be on the same page now
Shams would go on to say that Embiid and the Sixers are in "lockstep" about trying to get the big man healthy and getting him back on the floor. At least for now, it appears as if there were (according to Shams) different opinions on how to get that done. Now that Embiid has been shut down for the remainder of the season, they might both be back on the same page.
However, it's certainly something to keep in mind as this story progresses. Is there any chance Embiid made this injury worse by playing on it? Is there any "I told you so" going on anywhere in the front office, especially after they gave Embiid a huge contract extension this past summer?
It's hard to predict either way at this point, especially if there's still hope that Embiid will be able to return next season fully healthy. However, I also don't believe it's not important to note that there was such a difference of opinion between Embiid and the Sixers. That seems pretty big, even if cooler heads have now prevailed.
Winning generally cures all in the NBA, and in a year, if the Sixers are healthy and preparing to make a deep run in the NBA Playoffs, all of this may be a moot point. However, if Embiid continues to struggle with this injury going forward, this season could be one of those moments where everything between Embiid and the Sixers could've gone south.