Amick: Joel Embiid deserved better, and the NBA's 65-game rulebook is flawed

SAN FRANCISCO – Joel Embiid said nothing.

At least not with his words.

The Philadelphia 76ers big man, who was ridiculed for three days after his latest disappearance, and whose MVP defense is in jeopardy so early because of the league's 65-game rule, which puts so much pressure on his sensitive situation, didn't have to do that. said something after leaving the Chase Center floor late Tuesday night in so much pain due to an apparent knee injury.

As was the case on Saturday afternoon, when his late scratch against the Denver Nuggets set off a chorus of criticism over his perceived lack of willingness to face a fellow great in Nikola Jokić, the terrible optics were enough.

Only this time, in stark contrast to that accident in Mile High City, Embiid had suddenly become a sympathetic figure. And if anyone was afraid, as he was accused of being in some cases high-profile media circlesit was the Sixers (29-17) team that now sits fifth in the Eastern Conference standings after a 119-107 loss to Golden State.

It spoke volumes that Sixers coach Nick Nurse was extraordinarily slow to attend his post-game press conference, or that his answers to questions about the left knee injury suffered with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in their fourth straight loss seemed so rehearsed . It's never a good sign when a team's top front office executive, in this case the Sixers' Daryl Morey, makes the rounds in the back of the visitors' arena seeking perspective from the team's medical staff. All the Sixers involved that matter most were concerned.

As for Embiid, he opted not to speak to reporters afterward, prioritizing an ice bath that lasted well into the night. And with good reason.

The MRI results will determine how concerned these Sixers should be as they continue on this title-fighting mission. According to Embiid's resume, he can only miss five more games before he's ineligible for the kind of postseason accolades that have defined the legacies of greats for so long. That's the micro of it all. Jonathan Kuminga of the Warriors fell on Embiid's left knee late in the game, and his night of labored moves mercifully ended as Warriors fans wished him well with cheers and even a few mini standing ovations.

But the macro, and what should inspire fans and reporters alike to think twice about how we discuss this enormous man who is as much of a basketball treasure as his body allows him to be, is that Embiid is very clearly going through the same kind of struggle fight over. physical ailments that dogged him for much of his 10-year career.

As a Sixers source indicated late Tuesday night, he has been dealing with soreness in that same left knee all season. And while Nurse indicated that the injury that forced his late departure was somehow different from the one that has haunted him of late, the Embiid theme remained unchanged: He was battered and bruised before February even arrived, and his ability to be at his best from now on is suddenly in serious doubt again.

Have we all forgotten that the reigning MVP missed his first two full seasons due to foot injuries, or that he has only reached the sacred 65-game mark twice in the seven seasons he has played? There are shades of Yao Ming here, with a talent so transcendent, but that nagging sense of physical doom and gloom always lurking around the proverbial corner.

Embiid has already accomplished far more than the 6-foot-3, 310-pound former Houston Rockets big man could in a nine-year career that was cut short by injuries, but the unwanted parallels are there. Starting with the size.

You could see it long before he got hurt against the Warriors. Embiid, who missed Philadelphia's game at Portland on Monday night, looked like a player who pushed himself to play against Golden State because the entire basketball world was shouting in his ear. There are those within the Sixers who are convinced he only played because of all the criticism.

He was terrible by his lofty standards, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists while missing 13 of 18 shots and settling for jumpers on all but one attempt. Embiid has always been up and down, but this was a level of hesitation and instability he didn't see often. And to hear Sixers guard Kelly Oubre discuss Embiid's fateful night afterward was to be reminded that gravity has never been his friend. Although Embiid is listed at 7 feet and 280 pounds, it is widely believed that these measurements do not reflect his actual size.

“(You have people) pushing him to be great when he weighs 300 pounds (and) is 8 feet tall?” Oubre said, exaggerating Embiid's height. “So, come on bro. … I think this year people will really understand that he's had to make sure his body is right his entire career. This looks like NASCAR, right? If their cars don't work and their mechanics aren't really able to get the job done before the race, what can they do? They can't race.

“These are our bodies. Our body is our car and we must treat it with respect. He weighs 350 pounds, buddy. So you know, I'm praying for him for a speedy recovery so he can come in and give himself the best chance. But in the end that's not important. His body and his career are the most important.”

So maybe we all should have dug a little deeper here before trashing him for his absence in Denver. Yours is truly included.

There was evidence that was largely ignored in Thursday night's game against Indiana, when Embiid went down midway through the second quarter and that same left knee seemed to hurt that would be his downfall in Denver. Nevertheless, he played through it against the Pacers, finishing with 31 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes.

Fast forward two nights, and it was completely fair to wonder why Embiid wasn't on the injury report heading into the Nuggets game (and make no mistake, the league has looked into that matter). But the criticism of his absence went much further than that.

Embiid was considered a coward in some circles, someone who would rather be booed (which he was) than tackle Jokić in his building. It doesn't matter that he had just defeated Jokić in Philadelphia less than two weeks before.

But while it's true that Embiid hasn't played in Denver since 2019 and that he's now missed six of their eight meetings in the Mile High City while Jokić has played every time, the context here is key. A quick recap for the sake of fairness to Embiid.

His first two absences in Denver (December 30, 2017, And January 26, 2019) came at a time when rest was an even bigger part of his rehabilitation program. And while they were the most suspect of the six, it was certainly no small factor that Embiid was still in the early days of putting together a sustained NBA run while trying to stay healthy. But the three that preceded Saturday's absence — and they all came after the final showdown between Jokić and Embiid November 8, 2019 – were so different that they deserve to be explored.

March 30, 2021: Embiid had been out since March 12 with a bone bruise in his left knee, and wouldn't return until April 3 (two games later against Minnesota). This one is undisputedly legit.
November 18, 2021: Embiid missed his sixth straight game after complying with the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols. He was absent from November 6 to 27. Also legit.
March 27, 2023: Embiid I have a painful right calf. He played the game before and the game after. It's safe to say this one could be up for debate.

That's not to say that Embiid's history of not playing in Denver isn't strange. But it's one thing to wonder out loud why this trend has arisen, and quite another to attack the competitive nature of a player who is already worthy of being considered an all-time great. Those hot shots now look cold in more ways than one.

Ditto for the premature adoption of the league's 65-game rule. While fans, owners, television partners and league officials have every right to solve the league's fiscal management dilemma, the early returns here are enough to make one wonder if it might need to be reexamined due to unintended consequences. Is it a good thing that the reigning MVP is about to end that conversation before we even reach the All-Star break?

“That's not what I signed up for (65-game rule),” Sixers backup center Paul Reed said of the rule agreed to as part of the league's collective bargaining agreement ratified last April and running through 2029-2030. season. “I don't remember signing any paperwork, you feel me? I think the (players') union was okay with it. Honestly, they probably didn't have a choice. Yes, it's hard. It puts a lot of pressure on the players. We were just talking about that. There's a lot of pressure, especially guys like (Embiid who are) trying to get MVP again.

Getting Embiid healthy is the only priority that matters right now.

Amick: Joel Embiid deserved better, and the NBA's 65-game rulebook is flawed

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