Joel Embiid is already sitting out the entire preseason, and Philadelphia appears to have a much more aggressive injury prevention plan in place for the Sixers center.
We already knew Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers were taking a longer view in terms of his load management this season. We’re seeing it in practice with the news that the big man won’t be playing in any preseason games this fall.
Depending on how you view life in general, you can read different things into this approach. The optimist might think, “Oh, good, they’re finally being serious about maximizing his chances of being healthy and available in April, May, and June.” Whereas the pessimist could say, “It’s October and Embiid hasn’t played a game and he’s already visiting doctors to updates on his knee. There’s no way this guy ever stays healthy enough for the Sixers to achieve their goals.” Both sides certainly have some validity.
While we knew about the preseason, we received further information on the long-term approach this morning, courtesy of an article by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. First, Joel referenced another legendary big man, Tim Duncan, and echoed something Daryl Morey said earlier this fall about no more back-to-backs for the star center.
“The 30-year-old Embiid is doing his part, arriving at training camp having lost 25 to 30 pounds with the goal to lose more. Pointing to how Hall of Fame big man Tim Duncan transformed his body as his career progressed as inspiration, Embiid hopes a slimmer version of himself can better handle the rigors of the NBA season. “It’s just the evolution of your body, and getting older and finding ways to stay afloat and be as dominant as I’ve always been,” he said.
And, after playing in just 433 of a possible 637 games across the past eight seasons — not counting the first two years of his career that were lost to foot injuries — Embiid’s days of playing back-to-backs appear to be over.
“If I had to guess,” Embiid said, “I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career.”
“We’re going to be smart about it,” Morey said. “Part of being smart about it is having both Paul and Joel probably not play many back to backs, if any.”
Score one for the optimist camp with this news. People have called for Embiid to slim down for a long time in order to have less stress placed on his joints. Back-to-backs were always unnecessary for him, but especially now with the much-improved supporting cast and Andre Drummond around to soak up minutes at center. Sitting Embiid for those game is eminently rational.
However, the pessimist camp also received what could be construed as a concerning update in the Bontemps piece:
“Embiid will also — begrudgingly — continue to wear a brace on the left knee he injured in January. But while he has always been uncomfortable wearing either a facemask or brace at any point in his career, he said it won’t stop him from doing the things that have made him one of the league’s most dominant forces.
“It’s the right thing to do, and the right thing that’s going to give me the support for the rest of my career,” Embiid said. “For me, it’s a mental thing. I hated it. [But] I started telling myself, ‘OK, I have to do it, that’s the only way they’re going to let me play. …
“It might not look as good as it used to, with the jab or the pull-up and all that stuff, but it’ll still work.”
So Joel will be more uncomfortable out on the court and slowed down and less effective with his movements. Even if it’s the smart move in terms of injury prevention, it’s not great news for that to be the reality we’re dealing with at this time.
Ultimately, these seem like wise and overdue decisions by Embiid and the Sixers. We probably wish he reached these conclusions a year or two earlier. Maybe one of the recent injuries could have been prevented? Regardless, we have to live in the present and all parties involved look to be on the same page towards maximizing Philadelphia’s chance at a championship.