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The Philly sports world seems to be cursed with NBA players like Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons flaming out when they were supposed to be generational talents.
Now we’re not saying Joel Embiid falls into that category, but constant injuries have hampered him from reaching his full potential.
Despite taking the last few months off and undergoing knee surgery in April, Embiid’s nagging knee injury persists, according to a new Clutch Points report.
“Embiid has struggled getting back on the court this offseason, and there is a growing concern that he will not be ready for the start of training camp,” writes ClutchPoints.
The site goes on to explain that Philly remains pretty confident he can return to his MVP form, but one other team’s exec says that a 76ers team source thinks they regret signing him to an extension last year.
Even a member of another team’s medical staff says that Embiid getting surgery multiple times to the same body part isn’t promising.
“When you have a second surgery to attempt and fix the initial problem, and then you continue to deal with delays and more complications, that’s never a good sign,” the medical personnel told ClutchPoints. “Few players have been able to come back from multiple surgeries and injuries to the same part of their body, which is what Joel is trying to achieve.”
And those knee injuries have been persistent for Embiid. In the 2023-24 season, he underwent surgery to fix a torn lateral meniscus, causing him to miss 39 games in total. He’d return for the late regular season and the playoffs, but he was a shell of himself. It was more of the same last season in 2024-25, when he only played 19 games before undergoing another season-ending reparative knee surgery in April.
Hampering injuries and the inability to reach his potential have also affected his mental health, which was covered in the extensive ESPN profile he recently sat down for. It also begs the question of whether it’s almost time for Embiid to wave the game goodbye forever.
Training camp starts at the beginning of October, so we’ll have to wait until then to see if Embiid can take the court, but if the report holds, the 76ers are staring down a brutal beginning to the season.
Paul George is already set to miss preseason action following his own knee procedure suffered during an offseason workout, leaving the Sixers without two of their highest-paid stars. George’s $211 million contract and Embiid’s $213 million deal have made it nearly impossible to add significant role players around Tyrese Maxey, which creates another layer of pressure for a franchise that may need to rethink its long-term vision of success.
See reactions to the rumors around Embiid’s health below.