Joel Embiid has battled a litany of injuries throughout his career, which have consistently held him back. He’s had knee issues, foot problems, facial fractures, and various other sprains at different times. It’s what he’s critiqued about the most when it comes to his overall ability. We all know Joel is a dominant force, but we rarely get to see him healthy for a prolonged period.
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That’s why Embiid came out with an emotional ESPN feature a couple of weeks ago, where he spoke about the amount of pain he’s played through in his career and how he hears all the criticisms. He got quite candid about how frustrating it’s been to deal with it all.
In reaction to the article, many fans thought it was one of the best sports stories they’d read in a while. But one NBA insider, Keith Pompey, also thought it meant that Embiid could retire soon.
“I think Joel may know that the end is near,” Pompey said on SiriusXM NBA Radio about the recent feature written about him. “And this is just me saying that. And it’s kind of explaining to people what he’s going through. Because rarely do you have a guy tell you how much pain and how much they’re going through.”
It’s true. Usually, players will hide their pain during their careers and expand on it once they retire. Yet, Embiid is already so open about the pain he’s been going through. It was more of an attempt to get people to relate to and understand him. Nevertheless, it’s worrisome what he shared.
“Rarely do you have a guy tell you how much pain he’s in and how much they’re going through.”@PompeyOnSixers tells @TheJaxShow and @DarthAmin he thinks Embiid could be hinting at something in his recent ESPN feature pic.twitter.com/620n9QQW5k
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 27, 2025
Perhaps the part that worried Pompey the most was seeing the curtain pulled back on the Philadelphia 76ers’ operations. “The thing I took from it was, no matter who was there, the culture is the same… And maybe he feels as though he can’t play at the level he used to,” he said.
The insider did admit that Embiid could make him eat his words quite easily. “I could be wrong, he could come out and have another MVP season,” Pompey admitted.
All in all, it’s a useful insight to keep in mind. We’ve seen the careers of centers end prematurely in the past. Embiid has played just 64 games over the past two years, regular season and postseason combined. His most recent injuries were to his knee, which required surgery, and a sinus fracture.
It should be noted, though, that Joel hasn’t spoken about retirement. This is all pure speculation. Pompey could be right, or he could be massively wrong. There have been no indications that the former MVP is considering retirement. The 76ers have said they expect him to be present for training camp in September.
