Joel: unchained.

[Iverson Armband]

The article is a big fat nothingburger. Actually gives me confidence he’ll be back, this time taking it slow and steady. If it takes until midseason so be it. We have enough to stay afloat until then, and less games is less chance for another injury.

You can’t sit out half the year, then pop up and expect the show to go on as planned and be successful. It doesn’t work like that.

[Arsenal]

The article is a big fat nothingburger. Actually gives me confidence he’ll be back, this time taking it slow and steady. If it takes until midseason so be it. We have enough to stay afloat until then, and less games is less chance for another injury.

You can’t sit out half the year, then pop up and expect the show to go on as planned and be successful. It doesn’t work like that.

Sure we can. Especially in this garbage Eastern conference.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

I think Embiid wants to keep playing. I also think the story is just the same Embiid we've all gotten to know. He wants to be 100% when he hits the floor. Let the man work through this ****. He's rushed back each and every time he's gotten injured throughout his career, and it's never ended well.

He's 31, I agree with him, it's time to take a different approach. I can only imagine what this does to him mentally. He can up and retire if he wants to. His family is set for life for generations, but I think as a player, he wants to leave the game on his terms, and I can't fault him for that. This is the most important offseason he's ever had. So by a longshot that he does stay healthy, it'll be credited to this new approach that he took. The other parts where he threw a little shade at the organization was just him speaking the truth. Everyone knows this is a bad organization for a player to be a part of. A lot of **** needs to be worked through. I think the overall negligence and disarray of the organization has always been a major issue with this team dating back as far as I can remember. Aside from Croce, I've never been thrilled with the people at the top. There's no reason to recite all the blunders (too many anyway). Those that have stuck with this team are all aware of them. Nobody survives Philly.

[Iverson Armband]

The article is a big fat nothingburger. Actually gives me confidence he’ll be back, this time taking it slow and steady. If it takes until midseason so be it. We have enough to stay afloat until then, and less games is less chance for another injury.

You can’t sit out half the year, then pop up and expect the show to go on as planned and be successful. It doesn’t work like that.

Sure we can. Especially in this garbage Eastern conference.

Good luck with that.

[okboomer]

The article is a big fat nothingburger. Actually gives me confidence he’ll be back, this time taking it slow and steady. If it takes until midseason so be it. We have enough to stay afloat until then, and less games is less chance for another injury.

You can’t sit out half the year, then pop up and expect the show to go on as planned and be successful. It doesn’t work like that.

Sure we can. Especially in this garbage Eastern conference.

Like he can stay healthy playing every other day for 8 weeks .

[Mik317]

I think most people have already made up their mind when it comes to Biid and until he wins it all that won't change....which makes discussing him a giant waste of time sadly. I hope it happens but realistically its a lot less likely than ever. Be it his health, his playstyle, the team, the FO, the ownership, history or just luck....lot has to go right and it just doesn't seem like it ever will lol.

the sad part is that despite all of that it is still probably our best bet for now and the future lol

[Peak Brunson]

He just never had it in him to be the best player in a championship team. Maybe in another timeline he could've been trained and groomed to be one, it's possible, this is a player that prior to 2016 had very little basketball experience, a better organization that could've taught him the fundamentals and other stuff better, I could see it honestly, because his main issue on the court was reacting to double teams and performing in a playoff setting against more structured defenses, he just got by with mediocre fundamentals because that was enough for regular season. Also he would've had better diet habits in his first seasons and probably all his career, let's remember it was always kind of an issue, he always had serious stamina issues in 2nd half of playoff games, this indicates he never took care of his body properly at any point of his career, he improved that at some point compared to his first seasons, but never to the required level.

[76ciology]

He just never had it in him to be the best player in a championship team. Maybe in another timeline he could've been trained and groomed to be one, it's possible, this is a player that prior to 2016 had very little basketball experience, a better organization that could've taught him the fundamentals and other stuff better, I could see it honestly, because his main issue on the court was reacting to double teams and performing in a playoff setting against more structured defenses, he just got by with mediocre fundamentals because that was enough for regular season. Also he would've had better diet habits in his first seasons and probably all his career, let's remember it was always kind of an issue, he always had serious stamina issues in 2nd half of playoff games, this indicates he never took care of his body properly at any point of his career, he improved that at some point compared to his first seasons, but never to the required level.

Lack of experience is part of it. I’ve mentioned before how much Embiid lags behind guys like Jokic in high-stakes games. Jokic rarely misses time, plays deep into the playoffs, and even suits up for his national team during the offseason. Jokic has seen more types of defense, more types of games that he knows how to pace himself of play at certain style to win the game. In contrast, Embiid spends most of the year working on individual skills with Drew Hanlen, manages his workload during the regular season, and enters the playoffs often just trying to play 100% after being banged up.

That certainly plays a role, but I think the bigger factor is that Embiid never fully expected to be this good. Given where he came from and what he went through, he sees things from a different perspective. He genuinely believes he earned the right to enjoy the good life, to win that MVP, and to prioritize his own well-being. In a way, he chose his life over the team. That’s a personal decision, and he deserves that choice. And yeah, we can call him selfish but it would also be selfish of us to tell him how to live his life.

[76ciology]

What I wonder is whether Jojo felt pressured to play during the Knicks series and commit to the Olympics in order to strengthen his position for a contract extension. After seeing how Morey handled the James Harden situation, showing he’s cold and calculated enough not to hand out max deals if he can re-sign players for less.. maybe Embiid realized he couldn’t afford to sit out both high-profile stages without risking leverage in negotiations.

If Embiid had sat out both the Knicks series and the Olympics, it could’ve seriously hurt his leverage. Teams around the league might start backing off, worried about his long-term health and reliability. At the same time, the Sixers could hesitate to offer him the supermax, especially with Morey’s history of playing hardball in contract talks. That kind of absence would raise too many red flags, and Embiid knows it.

And that for me is where the friction between him and his trainer happened.

[76ciology]

As fans, how long have we been dealing with this? More than 10 years? More than a full decade of wondering.. Can he stay healthy? Every offseason revolves around that question. Every game is a guessing game.. Is he playing tonight? Every first quarter, we’re trying to read his body language to figure out what version of Embiid we’re getting. And every time he falls, our hearts stop.

We were robbed of simply enjoying basketball for what it is. We deserve better.

[Peak Brunson]

He just never had it in him to be the best player in a championship team. Maybe in another timeline he could've been trained and groomed to be one, it's possible, this is a player that prior to 2016 had very little basketball experience, a better organization that could've taught him the fundamentals and other stuff better, I could see it honestly, because his main issue on the court was reacting to double teams and performing in a playoff setting against more structured defenses, he just got by with mediocre fundamentals because that was enough for regular season. Also he would've had better diet habits in his first seasons and probably all his career, let's remember it was always kind of an issue, he always had serious stamina issues in 2nd half of playoff games, this indicates he never took care of his body properly at any point of his career, he improved that at some point compared to his first seasons, but never to the required level.

Lack of experience is part of it. I’ve mentioned before how much Embiid lags behind guys like Jokic in high-stakes games. Jokic rarely misses time, plays deep into the playoffs, and even suits up for his national team during the offseason. Jokic has seen more types of defense, more types of games that he knows how to pace himself of play at certain style to win the game. In contrast, Embiid spends most of the year working on individual skills with Drew Hanlen, manages his workload during the regular season, and enters the playoffs often just trying to play 100% after being banged up.

That certainly plays a role, but I think the bigger factor is that Embiid never fully expected to be this good. Given where he came from and what he went through, he sees things from a different perspective. He genuinely believes he earned the right to enjoy the good life, to win that MVP, and to prioritize his own well-being. In a way, he chose his life over the team. That’s a personal decision, and he deserves that choice. And yeah, we can call him selfish but it would also be selfish of us to tell him how to live his life.

Yeah, makes sense, Embiid reminds me of Neymar in a way lol.
His experience playing basketball was similar to Hakeem, but then Hakeem stayed in college 4 years to grow, instead of only 1 year and then be a franchise player from day 1 into a tanking dysfunctional franchise. I can see how that would make a huge difference.

On the other hand, with Embiid it's always this weird sensation of: he has been a disappointment but at the same time a huge success, because most people in 2014-2016 expected him to be another Greg Oden and barely play in the NBA, he ended up winning an MVP. It's really weird talking about him, honestly.

Thinking about it, that draft has to be by a huge margin the most overrated draft ever, was one of the most hyped drafts ever and, aside from Embiid, no player in the Top 30 was a franchise player, not even close.

[Arsenal]

You can’t sit out half the year, then pop up and expect the show to go on as planned and be successful. It doesn’t work like that.

Sure we can. Especially in this garbage Eastern conference.

Like he can stay healthy playing every other day for 8 weeks .

I'm not saying he'll hold up enough to win a title, I'm just saying he can last long enough to get us into the 2nd round again in this trash conference. Maybe even the 3rd round.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

As fans, how long have we been dealing with this? More than 10 years? More than a full decade of wondering.. Can he stay healthy? Every offseason revolves around that question. Every game is a guessing game.. Is he playing tonight? Every first quarter, we’re trying to read his body language to figure out what version of Embiid we’re getting. And every time he falls, our hearts stop.

We were robbed of simply enjoying basketball for what it is. We deserve better.

Sadly, we're all probably going to suffer from PTSD towards our top players for the remainder of the time we choose to follow this team. Elton Brand, Andrew Bynum, Embiid, Simmons, Fultz, Zhaire Smith, Paul George. It's been going well past 10 years.

[76ciology]

As fans, how long have we been dealing with this? More than 10 years? More than a full decade of wondering.. Can he stay healthy? Every offseason revolves around that question. Every game is a guessing game.. Is he playing tonight? Every first quarter, we’re trying to read his body language to figure out what version of Embiid we’re getting. And every time he falls, our hearts stop.

We were robbed of simply enjoying basketball for what it is. We deserve better.

Sadly, we're all probably going to suffer from PTSD towards our top players for the remainder of the time we choose to follow this team. Elton Brand, Andrew Bynum, Embiid, Simmons, Fultz, Zhaire Smith, Paul George. It's been going well past 10 years.

You forgot Chris Webber

[SixersSince82]

Barkley was convinced that Joel would have become the best player in the Sixers history if he was given the right guidance and coaching at the beginning.

I used to think that too. Reading that article gave me an entirely different perspective.

Joel's clearly a very difficult person to get through to. The folks that did get through to him coddled the sh*t outta him. Had he been given a firmer hand, tougher guidance, I don't think it would have worked. That article makes it sound like as soon as someone does something he doesn't like he kind of shuts down toward them. You dont learn that from interactions at your job. That's with you well before that and the article shows as much.

We probably got the best Joel we could have realistically hoped for.

[Negrodamus]

My takeaway is if Embiid went to a team like the Bucks, he probably would have had a better career. Less attention nationally, a smaller market with less meddling by the league, less turnover. I feel like Giannis has had a great relationship with them to the point he hasn't bolted yet.

I was going to say Embiid would have a better relationship with their ownership but I'm pretty sure he's good friends with many of the higher ups with the Sixers. That's why I don't think they care too much about this story since he's been close with them, or at least Michael Rubin, this whole time.

I don't know, I empathize a lot with Embiid because he was a uniquely clueless child coming into the league and has been in a state of disarray since day one of being in Philly. I say uniquely because he wasn't American, doesn't fully grasp the culture yet, doesn't grasp how good he is yet, and is being thrusted into an incredibly important role as the cornerstone of the franchise that is actively trying to be terrible. Giving him **** for being pouty at 20 years old while his foot isn't healing right and he's eating garbage food doesn't make sense to me. Him becoming guarded and reclusive is a consequence of the FO's actions. The actual adults in the building were too reactive with him which shouldn't come as a surprise: they're running a business, not a boarding school. Like, it's great they made the investment to send him to Qatar, but it was a reactive move.

I knew many of the stories, but man, he is a guy who hits some peaks and valleys. International superstar and multimillionaire at the height of his craft, but his brother and dog die in particularly awful ways, endlessly injured at, almost comically, the worst moments to be injured, he builds friendships with co-stars only to have them disintegrate due to seemingly external factors...

So in the end, I don't really hold contempt for anyone. The whole thing could've been handled better and he still ended up being one of the greatest players of all time at his peak in spite of it all.

[Ferry Avenue]

I used to think that too. Reading that article gave me an entirely different perspective.

Joel's clearly a very difficult person to get through to. The folks that did get through to him coddled the sh*t outta him. Had he been given a firmer hand, tougher guidance, I don't think it would have worked. That article makes it sound like as soon as someone does something he doesn't like he kind of shuts down toward them. You dont learn that from interactions at your job. That's with you well before that and the article shows as much.

We probably got the best Joel we could have realistically hoped for.

That's exactly the dynamic that ensues when you tell your fans to "trust the process" -- i.e., to tolerate losing on purpose because it'll make us destined to win. Then you're deeply indebted to your fans and you MUST win, which in turn makes you overvalue the players obtained when you were tanking. As soon as you jettison one of those cherished players for whatever reason, as teams normally do here and there, how can you possibly retain the trust of your fanbase? You asked me to "trust the process" and now you're getting rid of the player(s) you obtained while I was trusting you and enduring your losing? The organization instead has to hang on to those players at almost all costs.

The players obtained as part of the tank know all this on some level and therefore experience themselves as "untouchable" to a far greater degree than the typical NBA player, and those are far from optimal conditions for effective player development.

"The process" as a simple math equation (lose = better draft picks) is great. When applied to living breathing human beings however, it ain't so great.

[Iverson Armband]

My takeaway is if Embiid went to a team like the Bucks, he probably would have had a better career. Less attention nationally, a smaller market with less meddling by the league, less turnover. I feel like Giannis has had a great relationship with them to the point he hasn't bolted yet.

I was going to say Embiid would have a better relationship with their ownership but I'm pretty sure he's good friends with many of the higher ups with the Sixers. That's why I don't think they care too much about this story since he's been close with them, or at least Michael Rubin, this whole time.

I don't know, I empathize a lot with Embiid because he was a uniquely clueless child coming into the league and has been in a state of disarray since day one of being in Philly. I say uniquely because he wasn't American, doesn't fully grasp the culture yet, doesn't grasp how good he is yet, and is being thrusted into an incredibly important role as the cornerstone of the franchise that is actively trying to be terrible. Giving him **** for being pouty at 20 years old while his foot isn't healing right and he's eating garbage food doesn't make sense to me. Him becoming guarded and reclusive is a consequence

My takeaway is if Embiid went to a team like the Bucks, he probably would have had a better career. Less attention nationally, a smaller market with less meddling by the league, less turnover. I feel like Giannis has had a great relationship with them to the point he hasn't bolted yet.

I was going to say Embiid would have a better relationship with their ownership but I'm pretty sure he's good friends with many of the higher ups with the Sixers. That's why I don't think they care too much about this story since he's been close with them, or at least Michael Rubin, this whole time.

I don't know, I empathize a lot with Embiid because he was a uniquely clueless child coming into the league and has been in a state of disarray since day one of being in Philly. I say uniquely because he wasn't American, doesn't fully grasp the culture yet, doesn't grasp how good he is yet, and is being thrusted into an incredibly important role as the cornerstone of the franchise that is actively trying to be terrible. Giving him **** for being pouty at 20 years old while his foot isn't healing right and he's eating garbage food doesn't make sense to me. Him becoming guarded and reclusive is a consequence of the FO's actions. The actual adults in the building were too reactive with him which shouldn't come as a surprise: they're running a business, not a boarding school. Like, it's great they made the investment to send him to Qatar, but it was a reactive move.

I knew many of the stories, but man, he is a guy who hits some peaks and valleys. International superstar and multimillionaire at the height of his craft, but his brother and dog die in particularly awful ways, endlessly injured at, almost comically, the worst moments to be injured, he builds friendships with co-stars only to have them disintegrate due to seemingly external factors...

So in the end, I don't really hold contempt for anyone. The whole thing could've been handled better and he still ended up being one of the greatest players of all time at his peak in spite of it all.

Sure, some of the earlier transgressions can be written off as immaturity. Makes total sense. The problem I have is when people don’t hold him accountable for anything ever, because he’s good at basketball. It always has to be somebody else’s fault.

You can’t use your past and age as an excuse forever. Eventually it’s time to grow up. For him to say he’s never going to be a part of another team meeting because information on one was leaked last year, is pathetic. He’s still in his feelings about being called out and it’s very obvious he will never get it. Already going in to next year with loser tendencies.

The problem with Joel is, he’s let all the talk about how great he is, the accolades etc get to his head. And it’s turned him in to a diva, instead of a killer.

[Negrodamus]

What are we even talking about here though? He was arguably worthy of two MVPs and has been dominant when healthy. He has grievances. If he had Jordan’s mentality, he’d still be injury prone.

It’s not like he was this massive bust because he had a bad attitude. In the end, his attitude has no bearing on his availability. You can’t prevent a meniscus injury from happening if Kuminga falls into your knee. You can’t lose enough weight or get strong enough to prevent Fultz and Siakam from bashing in your orbital bone.

[Iverson Armband]

What are we even talking about here though? He was arguably worthy of two MVPs and has been dominant when healthy. He has grievances. If he had Jordan’s mentality, he’d still be injury prone.

It’s not like he was this massive bust because he had a bad attitude. In the end, his attitude has no bearing on his availability. You can’t prevent a meniscus injury from happening if Kuminga falls into your knee. You can’t lose enough weight or get strong enough to prevent Fultz and Siakam from bashing in your orbital bone.

His own teammates, including probably the most fun-loving guy on the planet in Tyrese Maxey, called him out last year for his lack of professionalism.

So let’s not sit here and pretend that the only issues with Embiid are injury related. He’s been relatively healthy at times and still hasn’t produced when it’s mattered.