Courtside with Aaron is a regular column by Sports Editor Aaron Rigby.
With the start of the 2024-25 regular season upon us, it is all sunshine and rainbows for the Philadelphia 76ers. Tyrese Maxey signed a max contract extension, securing his position and dedication to the team, Joel Embiid is fresh off of winning an Olympic gold medal with Team USA, and the new kid on the block Paul George is coming into the locker room, ready to alleviate the load off the shoulders of Maxey and Embiid as a reliable player that can keep the team afloat if anything were to go awry. However, the injury bug has already struck this team, which quite frankly could be the story of the season as it typically is for the Sixers.
The Sixers’ newest addition, Paul George, suffered a knee injury in the first half against the Atlanta Hawks in what was only his second in-game appearance in a Philadelphia 76ers jersey. Lucky for George and the Sixers, the injury was just a minor hyperextension, and he is expected to be reevaluated later this week. For Embiid, however, there is no official injury listed on any injury report the Sixers have released, and there is no real timetable other than he is missing their first three games.
Despite Embiid being nearly unplayable in last year’s first-round series against the New York Knicks, fans were given a reason to be optimistic regarding the big man’s health heading into this season as we all saw him play for Team USA in the Paris Olympics. While Embiid was playing with Team USA, he appeared to be as close to 100% as Joel Embiid could get. So, why is an undisputed top 5 player in the league missing the entire first week of the regular season, and why has the Sixers organization not been transparent about the MVP’s health?
ESPN reporter Shams Charania claimed in his tweet that while Embiid will not play in any of the first week’s games, Embiid has been “progressing well and ramping up” in practice. My initial reaction to reading was, “progressing well from what?” Again, the last time Embiid played basketball he seemed perfectly healthy, and since then, there have been no reports of Joel Embiid suffering any injuries during training camp, practice, or any other form of preparation to get ready for the season.
Due to the lack of information regarding Embiid’s absence, the league will likely launch an investigation into the organization, as over the past few seasons they have done so when teams fail to provide clear or justifiable reasons for players missing games, especially when it includes big-name players missing games scheduled on national television.
Embiid’s unprecedented absence also means that the Sixers will likely start the season off slower than they had initially thought they would. Especially because the big three of Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and their biggest off-season addition Paul George, have not played a single game together yet, chances are they were already headed in the direction of a slow start while they adjust to each others’ games on the court. Now, on top of that, they will have to go through the “grace period” which most players and teams go through during the first week or so. This is the time of the season when guys who haven’t played a full 48-minute game of organized basketball get the cobwebs out from under their feet and get back into the swing of things.
Embiid and the Sixers front office have made it abundantly clear that the center will not be playing in back-to-backs. Teams will oftentimes hold out players who are injured more frequently to increase their chances of having a healthy playoff run. I hold a personal gripe with this ideology because “load managing” has never proven to have a real impact or effect on a player’s longevity throughout the NBA season. As a matter of fact, the players who often load manage are those who end up getting injured in the playoffs anyway, i.e., Anthony Davis or Kawhi Leonard. However, on the flip side of things players who aren’t load-managed often don’t deal with as many injuries, i.e., Nikola Jokic or even 40-year-old LeBron James.
Essentially, while putting the overall record in jeopardy and increasing the workload of your role players like Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr., nothing is getting accomplished other than avoiding injury that particular night in which Embiid sits out. By no means is it reasonable for Embiid or Paul George to play all 82 games or to have those expectations, but for Joel to miss an opening week for load management is absurd, especially when it means they will lose games that would be winnable if Embiid were to suit up.
The Philadelphia 76ers have a long 82-game season ahead of them, and fans are in for a fun ride if the coaching staff and front office have more of these scenarios in their playbook.
