Nick Piccone
Joel Embiid’s time with the Sixers has been tumultuous on various levels thus far. We’ve heard so many different things about him the last couple years – how his diet is terrible, his work ethic is lacking, he’s gaining weight and has no motivation to play basketball – and now we’re being led to believe the Sixers, who seem to be trying their hardest to rework their public image around the league with the hiring of Jerry Colangelo and Mike D’Antoni, may have given Embiid permission to delay his second surgery last year because he wanted to enjoy his summer.
Yup. As a fan, I’m sure that’s the first thing you want to hear about how Embiid’s recovery is coming along on this Monday morning.
According to a report from Tom Moore in the Bucks County Courier Times, Embiid’s surgery was, in fact, delayed last year because he wanted to enjoy his summer.
Two sources expressed surprise that the Sixers don’t plan to let Embiid first experience NBA ball in a more controlled atmosphere during July’s summer leagues like they did with Nerlens Noel in July 2014 after Noel was sidelined for his first year with a torn ACL.
Sixers management has said Embiid will skip summer leagues in part because it’ll only be 11 months since his second surgery. Two sources noted the Sixers permitted Embiid to delay the most recent operation from late June until Aug. 18, apparently because he wanted to enjoy himself for more of the summer.
…
If this guy is healthy, it would only make sense to play in the summer league — just to get the groundwork down and the defensive rotations,” said one source. “If you’re the organization, I would want to see early how he holds up.”
“All of this pressure is going to be on him to perform,” said another source. “He’s the face of the franchise. Why wouldn’t you get him out in Vegas against rookies and first- and second-year players who don’t play a lot, or fringe guys?”
Liberty Ballers does a great job in going through the timeline of the events, and even considers the fact that if the Sixers let Embiid wait to get surgery so he could enjoy summer, that it’s not exactly a terrible thing. I tend to agree with that. What difference does a couple months make? Nothing.
Embiid not playing in the summer league – let me repeat that, the summer league – doesn’t mean squat. It’s the summer league. Hell, I’m surprised they had Noel head to the summer league when he was recovering from a torn ACL.
As for Embiid, he was sent back to Qatar last week and will be there for a few weeks. So, uh, let’s all slow our rolls.
He will never play a meaningful minute in the NBA. He may play, but he won’t be a part of anything that matters. To think otherwise is foolish, to put it nicely.