Insanely enough, the seven-footer, Joel Embiid, has zero dunks so far this season. Due to ailing knee injuries, the big man has had to severely alter his style of play. It’s led to a lot more shooting and finesse rather than physicality down in the paint.
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However, in today’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Philadelphia 76ers star attempted one of the wildest dunks of the season. After getting his defender to bite on his fadeaway pump fake, Embiid stepped through and tossed the ball off the glass to himself. He then tried to throw the dunk down with one hand, but got rim-checked and went tumbling.
EMBIID TRIED IT pic.twitter.com/Bv90L79IA3
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 31, 2025
Naturally, after seeing the crazy dunk attempt, fans expressed concern for Embiid’s health.
“Dawg almost broke both his knees doing that,” one wrote.
“76ers fans got PTSD,” another joked.
Dawg almost broke both his knees doing that
— H U N C H O (@HunchoGambles) December 31, 2025
It started as a joke, but quickly turned into a genuine concern for Embiid’s reckless effort.
“He needs to stop bro he’s gonna get himself hurt again,” a fan commented.
“ANDDDDD there goes his knee,” someone else said.
Almost every NBA fan knows about Embiid’s knee issues over the years. They’ve gotten so bad that he opened up about them fully in an ESPN article before the season. It’s not just a physical thing with Joel anymore; it’s also become mental.
This season, the 76ers have severely limited Embiid’s playing time. He hasn’t played in a back-to-back and missed almost the entire month of games in November. Although he played in 7 out of the team’s 11 in December. He even netted a season-high 39 points on the 12th against the Indiana Pacers.
On the 23rd of this month, against the Brooklyn Nets, it appeared as though Embiid suffered a major knee injury. But he was able to return to the contest and finish with 27 points. Ever since then, fans have been on high alert regarding his health.
At the end of the day, health is always going to be the main question with Embiid. Everyone knows that he’s a dominant force when on the court. He won an MVP in 2022 to prove it. But he is yet to play more than 68 games in a single season. Not to mention he’s still only 32.
