As a new NBA season approaches, an old question is once again up in the air. What will the future be for Joel Embiid? The Sixers’ superstar is coming off another shortened campaign after tearing the meniscus in his knee. Now, a retired NBA Champion is predicting that whenever the 31-year-old does come back, it won’t be for long.
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The 2023 MVP has had a tough road of injuries in his basketball career. His NBA debut was delayed for two seasons due to a stress fracture in his right foot. Since then, he’s had multiple left knee issues (including meniscus tears and surgery), a left orbital fracture, a right orbital fracture, a sprained left shoulder, and a torn ligament in his left hand, just to name a few.
In total, Embiid has missed nearly 400 games since he came into the league back in 2016. To make matters worse, reports are now saying that his knee is in much worse shape than originally anticipated and that he won’t be back in time for Sixers training camp. One insider even claimed that the franchise regrets extending him back in 2024.
Jeff Teague thinks the light is already at the end of the tunnel for the seven-time All-Star. “It ain’t matter. Just get your chicken, brother. He done after these three years for sure,” said Teague on his Club 520 podcast. The panel agreed, and honestly, how could they not?
One question that Teague and company threw around was whether Joel would get into the Hall of Fame. “Yeah. MVP,” answered the ex-Milwaukee Buck. However, he immediately started backtracking that comment once he recalled Embiid’s injury timeline.
“That ***** missed so many games, though. He missed years. He missed three years,” he shouted. After some reflecting, he then fired out, “He might not make the Hall of Fame, bro.”
Teague isn’t alone in this thinking either. Kendrick Perkins is also skeptical that the Sixers sensation, who is one of the best talents in the league when he’s healthy, will last much longer.
“It’s scary to me because when I’m looking at this situation with Joel Embiid, I’m saying his prime is not like everybody else’s prime,” claimed KP on the Road Trippin podcast. Perk was debunking the theory that Embiid was just lazy, and compared him to Suns and Knicks great, A’mare Stoudemire, a fantastic two-way player who also dealt with the injury bug.
“And so, with these concerns coming up, I’m like, do we have a two-three year window left for Joel Embiid at a high level?” asked Perk. It’s rare to agree with the one-time NBA Champ, who mainly goes viral for having outlandish takes.
But in this case, he and Teague are speaking the truth. Even if Embiid does come back and put up some good numbers, the window for him to be in his prime is well over. When you look at Joel and you look at Giannis, even though they are similar in age, you’d guess that the Greek Freak was nearly a decade younger.
It’s hard to be a big man in this league. You need to have the power to body people in the paint, the speed to keep up, and these days, the ability to score like a shooting guard. The damage that Joel has put on his body, especially after carrying a dismal Sixers franchise behind incompetent head coaches like Doc Rivers, certainly took its toll.
There is a sadness to it. Joel could have potentially had two rings by this point and wound down his career on his own terms. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Enjoy him while you watch him. It won’t be for much longer.
