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Kincade & Salciunas: Weekdays 6am – 10am

Lather, Rinse, Repeat: Joel Embiid Is Injured Once Again

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Author John Kincade

Every Spring there are certain rituals in Philadelphia…Pollen, Gusty Storms and Joel Embiid is injured once again. The 76ers can’t avoid what appears to be the inevitable. They can do everything all season long to wrap their star in bubble wrap but by the time April comes around he’s going to be banged up. It’s like having a private plane with one pilot who is on retainer to fly the plane. It’s great to have the jet, but when you need to use it his availability is always up in the air. Can you blame him? No. Can you say that at this point it is maybe a questionable strategy for building a championship team? Yes.

Joel Embiid is and deserves to be the MVP. We will find that out officially during the 76ers second round series. Whether he will be just ringing the bell or actually helping them to defeat the Boston Celtics (most likely) is up in the air. Some are speculating that the announcement from Doc Rivers that Embiid would be no better than 50/50 to play in Game 1 of the next round is just gamesmanship. I’m not thinking that Doc is wasting his time trying to fool his next opponent, but that remains to be seen.

This is the most critical post season series that the 76ers have played since the Spring of 2019 when the Raptors broke their hearts in a Game 7 road loss. They had their best regular season record since 2001 and expectations are high. The pressure is more tangible than that. They have James Harden with an opportunity to walk at seasons end. He wants another big payday and Houston is reportedly sniffing around. It may be the last time that he tries to help the 76ers get over the hump. Tobias Harris will be under an expiring contract and could be moved this off season to free up salary cap space. The 2023-24 76ers May look drastically different.

It’s not Joel Embiid’s fault that him being injured is consistently the storyline that the franchise has to focus on every playoff season. At some point though you will have to decide whether it is the best plan if you are trying to win a title. Embiid has been outrageously good, but if he can’t help get you over the hump due to consistent injury do you just continue to wish and hope that next year will be different? It never is.

I feel for Joel Embiid, but I also feel for this fan base that so desires a championship. I’m hoping that he can make a quick recovery and battle through a series to move the 76ers further than they have advanced in 22 seasons. Unfortunately, wishing and hoping isn’t a strategy. Whether it’s bad luck, a body that can’t help breaking down or something more karmic, the 76ers can’t catch a break.

If this team loses in the second round I’m expecting an off season of turmoil. It could signal an end to being one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference. Dare I say that they might be entering “rebuild” territory? There is a lot more on the line than just winning a second round series. The sands are running out of the hourglass and it’s once again all about the health of one player. Do you expect a different ending? Cross your fingers and pray.

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4 Random People And Things We Have to Thank for the Sixers

The Sixers are one win away from moving on to the second round in the NBA Playoffs. Over the years we have seen the Sixers look different every single season. When one trade doesn’t work, the team is ready to make another to try and improve. The Sixers should be celebrated for that. But the focus shouldn’t just be on the organization. Here are the random people (and inanimate objects) to thank for this current Sixers team. 

  • Ping Pong Balls: 

    We will start with the team’s MVP, and the MVP of the NBA, Joel Embiid. The back-to-back scoring champ is the reason why the Sixers are contenders every single season, but it wasn’t who we wanted. If the Ping Pong balls went the way we wanted them to go back in 2014, the Sixers who have taken Andrew Wiggins with the first overall pick. “Winless for Wiggins” was a real phenomena back then. Good thing it didn’t play out that way. 

  • Mike Muscala

    During the awful days of the pandemic where teams were playing in bubbles, the Oklahoma City Thunder finished their regular season on August 12th of 2020. The Thunder were taking on the Miami Heat in what seemed to be a meaningless game. It was meaningless for the bubble playoffs, but it didn’t end up being meaningless for the future. Down 2 with seconds to go, former Sixers legend Mike Muscala hit a game winning 3 for OKC. If he didn’t make that shot, the Sixers would never have had the 21st overall pick. The pick was owned after a trade that sent Markelle Fultz to Orlando. The pick was top 20 protected by OKC. The game winning three made it the 21st overall pick which gave it to the Sixers who then landed Tyrese Maxey. 

  • Ben Simmons

    Ben Simmons will forever be an enemy of Philadelphia. That will never change. But if it wasn’t for his immaturity, his lack of heart, his smugness, should I keep going? If it wasn’t for all of the problems he caused, the Sixers would never have traded for him and they never would have landed James Harden. 

  • The Miami Heat

    I still believe to this day, if Joel Embiid didn’t have his orbital bone broken for a SECOND TIME, the Sixers would have beaten the Heat in the playoffs last year. That of course wasn’t the case and we had another off-season of misery that started too early. Why am I thanking the Heat? Because they exposed the Sixers with one player. PJ Tucker. After that series ended, multiple Sixers called out their own lack of physical and mental toughness. Joel Embiid even mentioned Tucker by name. Because the series played out the way that it did, the Sixers realized they needed to add toughness and they did that. Tucker has already shown what he was brought in to do during the first 3 games of this series.  

A full blooded Delco native from a sports crazed family, John has been obsessed with Philly sports from his days at St. Annie’s drawing team logos on his book covers! Told many times by teachers along the way “if you knew your studies as well as you know your sports” he turned that perceived weakness into a career. John has been broadcasting at the local and national levels since 1992. As a content creator for 97.5 The Fanatic he writes about Eagles, Sixers, Phillies and Flyers. You can follow @johnkincade or reach him at [email protected]

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