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[Amick] People within the Sixers’ organization believe Joel Embiid forced himself to play through injuries due to the scrutiny he received in recent days: “He looked like a player who pushed himself to play against Golden State because the whole basketball world was screaming in his ear.”



Source: [https://theathletic.com/5240548/2024/01/31/joel-embiid-knee-injury-nba-65-game-rule/](https://theathletic.com/5240548/2024/01/31/joel-embiid-knee-injury-nba-65-game-rule/)

>You could see it long before he was hurt against the Warriors. Embiid, who missed Philadelphia’s game at Portland on Monday night, looked like a player who pushed himself to play against Golden State because the whole basketball world was screaming in his ear. There are people within the Sixers who are convinced that he played only because of all the scrutiny.

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by KarmaTariff

36 Comments

  1. Learning to silence other people and focus on yourself is a hard thing to do. Get well soon.

    As Sartre said “Hell is other people”

  2. Shame_On_You_Man

    /r/nba’s 180 on this has been something to behold

  3. K1ngCrimsn

    If the “Sixers organization” didn’t clear him to play against Denver then list him out 15mins before tip-off, maybe all of this wouldn’t have happened

  4. thy_armageddon

    Blaming the fans for medical malpractice is an interesting pivot, let’s see if it pays off.

  5. Fake news this anonymous organization member doesn’t know shit. Embiid playing through nagging injuries is nothing new in his career.

    He played yesterday because our playoff seeding is in jeopardy and that he wants to hit 65 games for MVP. Media noise was mostly irrelevant.

  6. augustus624

    I doubt Embiid cares about 15 year old edgelords on Twitter/Reddit. The issue was legit reporters and talking heads with influence were also pushing the narrative that he was faking his injury and being soft for not playing. Still think Embiid should’ve ignored the noise and continued to rest but understandable that it got to him

  7. RealKevinGarnett

    What? So a grown ass man saw some nobodies on the internet talking shit and decided he would jeopardize his health and team success to prove them wrong? That’s on him.

  8. jjkiller26

    Lmaoooo “it’s actually the fans fault” is truly an insane way to spin this

  9. i’m struggling to see how this makes embiid and/or the sixers seem more competent. i know that’s what they’re going for, but man i just don’t see it

  10. Pinky1337

    Was it mapractice from the medical team? No, its NBA Twitters fault!

  11. ArjunBanerji27

    This is a pathetic spin to get attention off the fact that the Sixers organization and medical staff cleared him to play in Denver, took him off 15 minutes before the game, and then allowed him to play yesterday when he clearly hadn’t recovered.

    Trying to push the narrative that Embiid got bullied into playing by social media pressure is the least believable explaination they could have come up with.

    And even that was true, it wouldn’t reflect well upon the Sixers medical staff. You just let your injury prone superstar rush out to play, and re-injure himself, because he got tilted by twitter trolls?

  12. Pivoting the responsibility away from the Sixers medical staff onto the fans is an interesting gaslight lol

  13. The irony is sitting out a few more games to properly get right makes it look far less like he was ducking Jokic.

  14. LotharBot

    On the one hand, I understand that scrutiny can get to these guys. Jokic was affected by the toxic MVP discourse last season. Embiid is affected by the toxic injury/rest/duck discourse this season.

    On the other hand, part of being a professional in the spotlight is being able to make the right decision about playing, rest, intensity, etc. even if the critics are telling you something else. Whether it’s Perkins or Nick Wright or Bill Simmons … none of those guys are on your medical staff, and you can’t go letting them make decisions you should be making with your medical staff. This is an important lesson for professionals in this league overall. The media guys don’t know your medicals.

  15. Dave_Autista

    Didnt they say that this injury is unrelated to his previous injury?

  16. UpvoteIfYouAgreee

    learn to sit back and observe. not everything needs a reaction

  17. TheFestusEzeli

    I do wonder if there is any action that Embiid can do that people would not spin into “he is only doing it for the MVP!”

    Sits out, oh it’s because he is scared and doesn’t want to lose MVP. Plays, oh it’s because he is scared and doesn’t want to win MVP.

    Of course the Sixers medical staff is at fault too, that doesn’t make any of the brain dead takes by this sub any less stupid. I fucking hate the Sixers but have defended Embiid over the years here because this sub’s views and takes on him are insane.

  18. Barnicus57

    It’s pretty wild that Embiid was criticised and clowned for “ducking” Jokic, and now the medical staff is being blamed for letting him play the next game when it was always obvious that his knee issue was legit.

    This is exactly why I have no interest in hot take culture and people sitting on their couch or behind a microphone trying to call athletes soft for not playing hurt. It’s just a bunch of idiots with a voice who actually have no idea what they’re talking about most of the time, but are in a race to make themselves look like the smartest person in the room.

  19. GhostRevival

    I blame the Sixers organization not Embiid. They’re the ones who weren’t being transparent. I think he was definitely hurting, you could see it in the game against the Pacers.

  20. jorgelongo2

    r/nba is irrelevant, but the national media has been bullying embiid incessantly this week. Congrats fuckers

  21. Admirable_Food_9056

    Players always want to play. It is why the medical staff clears players to participate or not and why there is a coaching staff that should see a player is laboring and shouldn’t be out there. Trying to absolve themselves from blame is an awful look for the organization.

  22. anesthesiologist2

    Bad decisions by the Sixers here, but it’s amazing how many of you are playing both sides. I thought it was a fake injury and he was ducking?

  23. Mekdjrnebs

    Hot take: The fans don’t control Embiid’s health decisions. He should blame the medical staff/team…and himself

  24. I’ll probably be downvoted for this, but like, he really does always miss Denver. It may be a coincidence, or intentional in the past but this time was a legit injury like the boy who cried wolf or something.

    I don’t blame fans for, after this pretty large sample size, thinking he’s been intentionally ducking Denver at this point, whether it’s been true or not.

  25. beforeitcloy

    It has been obvious for a long time that no one decides when Embiid plays other than Embiid.

  26. signedpants

    A credentialed member of the Denevr media literally asked nick nurse if missing games was a reflection of Embiids character. It’s not just reddit comments, credentialed media members are calling his character into question over this.

  27. Titronnica

    So where tf are the adults in the org then? Why was he ever cleared then?

    This isn’t an issue of load management gone too far, this is not dealing with an injury because of hyperfixation on the MVP.

  28. HerbertJone510

    He did what we all wanted… are we happy?!?!?! Now we are bitching at him for playing?!?!?!? God people are stupid

  29. I dont think its the scrutiny thats a nice excuse but mostly he forced himself cause of 65 games/30 points streak records . And for ppl saying he doesn’t chase those stats , he apparently got injured vs Pacers but still he got back in the game to get 30 points.

    Vs Knicks it was a blowout yet he played to get..30. There are other games where he chased 30 too .

    Also the injury he got vs Warriors is completely different one where Kuminga falls on him so freak injury that doesn’t have anything to do with injury they said is reason not playing Denver. And first place whats Sixers medical stuff doing they cleared him for Denver then put him on injury list 5 minutes prior to game and now they cleared him again ? Some really weird stuff going on there

  30. You guys are all so god damn toxic. Hope all the hating makes you happier in life

  31. Risking his own health for the sake of public opinion is the height of stupidity.

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