Joel Embiid heads into his season of uncertainty

Although it seems like it happened in another era in a game that we might have watched on ESPN Classic, it was only 20 months ago that Joel Embiid scored 70 points against the San Antonio Spurs. The 2023 NBA MVP was at the peak of his powers, having seemingly unlocked every aspect of scoring on a basketball court.

Since then, however, the star center has undergone multiple knee surgeries and was limited to just 19 games last season, the primary reason the Philadelphia 76ers finished 24-58. With Embiid due to make over $187 million across the next three seasons, it’s now fair to wonder whether his contract is the worst in the NBA. Of course, the notion that he’s not worth the money goes out the window if Joel is able to step back on the court with any regularity.

Heading into the 2025-26 season, the potential range of outcomes for Embiid is as wide as his 7-foot-5 wingspan. It would certainly qualify as a very happy surprise, but it’s not inconceivable that the most recent procedure and a summer of rest did the trick for his knee, and Embiid returns to All-NBA form. On the flip side, it’s sadly possible that his body just doesn’t allow him to deal with the rigors of NBA basketball anymore, and he is forced out of the game in the same vein as big men like Yao Ming, Greg Oden, or famous Philadelphian bowler Andrew Bynum. If I had to guess, I’d wager the most probable outcome is Embiid tries to battle through things like he has for the last year and a half, but every optimistic flash is met by yet another setback. The simple answer is we need to prepare for any and every possible eventuality.

Currently, we don’t even know if Embiid will be available for training camp. Seeing him at the practice facility with his teammates and not sporting a knee brace is certainly an encouraging sign, but we’ve lived through too many Ben Simmons offseason workouts to place much stock in what we see in August and September. Remember that Joel participated in things over in the Bahamas last fall, but then the great ramp up happened, and suddenly he was out for the preseason, then the season opener, and finally the first nine games of the season. The point being that even in cases when we have a reasonable idea what is going on with Embiid today, we still really have no idea about tomorrow.

Ultimately, we just want the chance to watch Joel Embiid play basketball again. Not just because it’s the Sixers’ best chance of being any semblance of a contender anytime in the near future, but because this is a guy who has been through a lot and the alternative is just so darn sad. As illustrated in Dotun Akintoye’s terrific Embiid feature for ESPN over the summer, Joel has made some mistakes and missteps over the years, but he has also been through a degree of physical, mental, and emotional trauma that many people fortunately never have to deal with in the course of their own lives, let alone while being in the public spotlight. While the Sixers haven’t yet reached the degree of playoff success we might have hoped for during the Embiid era, he has certainly created many memorable moments and left an indelible mark in this city’s sports history. Let’s just cross our fingers we get to witness a few more.