It Is Time For The Sixers To Shut Joel Embiid Down

The Sixers could not have gone worse than it has so far. Joel Embiid and Paul Goerge have barely played, and when they have played, it has not helped get the Sixers wins. George has filled right in for what Tobias Harris used to give them, and Joel Embiid looks like a shell of himself.

Embiid himself has talked about it, telling reporters that he is not able to dominate the way he used to.

"The way I was playing a year ago is not the way I'm playing right now. It sucks. … I probably need to fix the problem, and then I'll be back at that level. But it's hard to have trust when you're not yourself."

The Sixers currently sit at 20-36. The 6th worst record in the league. 9.5 games out of the 6 seed to avoid the play-in, but actually only 1.5 games out of being in the Play-In as the 12 seed. But is scratching and clawing to get into that play-in game worth it? Sixers are apparently reconsidering if it is worth it according to Shams Charania.

The argument this season has been that if they just get in, and get healthy, they could be dangerous. We all saw the Heat do it as a play-in team, so why not the Sixers?

But after watching this group play, does anyone still believe that? Joel Embiid and Paul George are not playing like Embiid and George. If anything the two of them are an anchor on the team right now trying to play through their injuries.

It is time to throw in the towel. Let Embiid get the rest, let him get surgery if that is what he needs, and try again next year.

Embiid has spent his whole career playing through injuries. Fractured orbital bones, torn ligaments in his hand, bad knees, etc. But in the past, there was a reason. They had some hope in the playoffs, and even at 60%, Embiid still made them better. In hindsight, that hope went nowhere, but at the time it made sense for him to play through it.

Right now it makes no sense. This team is going nowhere. And Embiid is not helping. This is not the Joel Embiid who scored over a point per minute and shut the paint down. Right now, he is hurting them. You saw vs the Celtics that the team was better in the 4th quarter without him.

Ricky Bo shared some of his own experience playing through an injury. During his pitching career, he played through a torn labrum over multiple seasons. And looking back, he wishes he just shut it down at some point to get things right.

The goal needs to be his long-term health. Get that knee right, so you can hopefully salvage the rest of his career. You just gave him a massive extension. For better or worse, he is going to be here. And playing through right now is not helping to fix his knee.

So shut it down, and hope that over the rest of this season, and the off-season, he can get things right and get back to the Joel Embiid who was competing for MVP every single season. Maybe that guy will never be back. Maybe this is the end for him. But him playing through it now certainly is not helping anyone.

The Philadelphia 76ers own a storied history as a prominent NBA franchise. Their lineage of star players is a defining characteristic, and plenty of past 76ers have made their mark on NBA All-Star Weekend.

The NBA All-Star Game itself might not be the best display of defense or fundamental basketball, but it’s produced memorable moments and MVP performances from Sixers franchise legends like Allen Iverson and Julius Erving.

The annual showcase also features skills competitions like the Slam Dunk Contest, the 3-Point Contest, and the Rising Stars Game.

The City of Brotherly Love has hosted NBA All-Star Weekend four times since the Sixers relocated from Syracuse in 1963. The Spectrum and the Wells Fargo Center (then First Union Center) have each taken their turns.

Look back on the best NBA All-Star Weekend memories involving the 76ers.

The Slam Dunk Contest isn’t what it used to be when Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins battled for the attention of the basketball world.

The NBA attempted to revitalize the competition in 2023 with an outside the box idea: inviting a dynamic G-Leaguer.

Mac McClung of the Delaware Blue Coats earned a bid for the annual tradition, and the Sixers signed him to a two-way contract just days beforehand.

The competition’s wild card came out firing and put Nate Robinson to shame. He jumped over an adult with a child on his shoulders in his first opportunity.

McClung kept the highlight reel running with reverse dunks, windmills, and even some reverse windmills. His reverse spinorama stunned the crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City and won him the championship round.

While the idea of a G-League participant sounded like a gimmick to a lot of fans at first, McClung carved out a legacy in NBA All-Star Weekend history with a proud showing for the Sixers.

He repeated as the Slam Dunk Contest champion in 2024 after leaving the Blue Coats.

The Sixers scored big in the 1996 NBA Draft selecting Allen Iverson first overall. However, a high-schooler farther down the draft board challenged the top pick in the Rising Stars Game during their rookie seasons.

Kobe Bryant helped build his NBA profile with 31 points in his first of many memorable All-Star Weekend appearances, but Iverson’s Eastern Conference team pulled away with a tight 96-91 victory.

Iverson finished with 19 points in 26 minutes and earned MVP honors.

The Philadelphia Spectrum hosted three NBA All-Star Games before the Sixers moved across the street in 1996. Its first came in 1970 just seven years after the Sixers relocated from Syracuse.

The Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference 142-135. Willis Reed took home the MVP honors.

The First Union Center hosted its first and only NBA All-Star Game in 2002. Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo represented the defending Eastern Conference champions in a proud moment of exposure for the franchise.

The game’s most memorable moment wasn’t as proud. An aging Michael Jordan returned to the NBA with the Washington Wizards beginning in the 2001-02 season.

A man who retired as the greatest player in NBA history certainly doesn’t need any All-Star Game highlights to validate his legacy. However, he could’ve done without this awkward blunder.

One of the greatest basketball players in history played his high school ball at Lower Merion in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Kobe Bryant died tragically in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020 just three weeks before the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities celebrating the league’s 75th anniversary.

Commissioner Adam Silver acted swiftly to rename the All-Star MVP in commemoration of a player tied with Bob Pettit for the most All-Star MVPs in history with four.

Sixers legends and multi-time All-Star MVPS Allen Iverson and Julius Erving fittingly took part in the ceremony to honor Kobe Bryant at United Center in Chicago.

Charles Barkley earned 11 All-Star selections during his 16 NBA seasons. His fifth of six appearances during his time with the Sixers came in 1991 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

Michael Jordan easily outscored The Round Mound of Rebound in a 116-114 victory for the Eastern Conference. However, Barkley grabbed 22 boards to steal the game’s MVP award.

Any list honoring 76ers history needs to include Dr. J.

Erving played in 16 professional All-Star Games between the ABA and NBA. He won his first MVP in 1977 during the first season after the ABA collapsed. His second MVP came in 1983 four months before the Sixers lifted the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Most basketball fans can tell you that Nate Robinson won the Slam Dunk Contest three times. A 5-foot-9 champion was an interesting novelty after 5-foot-6 Spud Webb had won the third dunk contest in league history in 1986.

However, Robinson didn’t deserve his first Slam Dunk Contest title in 2006.

Second-year sleeper Andre Iguodala won the Rising Stars MVP at All-Star Weekend in Houston, and he threw down the most impressive jam of the weekend. Philadelphians still wonder how he didn't win the Slam Dunk Contest in 2006. It shouldn’t have been particularly close actually.

His veteran teammate Allen Iverson was the perfect counterpart. The aging Sixers legend bounced a pass off the backboard that Iguodala took under and up for the jam.

Yes, he went under the backboard and still reached the rim. The laws of physics nearly prevent it.

Robinson repeatedly missed his dunk attempts in the final round, but he used one of his many do-overs to jump over Spud Webb. The idea of the winning dunk was significantly better than the dunk itself. 

Judge Kenny Smith deliberately changed his score to rob Iguodala of his rightful title as the Slam Dunk Contest champion.

Philadelphia loyalist Charles Barkley pointed out the injustice of his TNT counterpart on the live broadcast as the crowd let out a loud chorus of boos.

America celebrated its 200th birthday in 1976. Patriotism swept through the US, including in professional sports, and the nation’s birthplace was the perfect location for All-Star showcase events.

The Flyers hosted the NHL’s All-Star festivities at the Spectrum in January 1976, and the Sixers were next up in February. The Phillies also hosted at Veterans Stadium on July 13, 1976, just nine days after the Independence Day celebration.

George McGinnis and Doug Collins represented the hometown team in an Eastern Conference victory at America's showplace.

The exposure for the city of Philadelphia helped the 76ers gain traction early in their tenure and before the dawn of some of their high-profile stars.

The 2000-01 season was one of the most memorable in Sixers history. Months before a trip to the NBA Finals, the Sixers also stole the show at the All-Star Game in Washington D.C. at arguably the most competitive All-Star Game in NBA history.

Larry Brown patrolled the sidelines for the East in a season when his upstart Sixers had taken the league by storm.

The West jumped out to an early lead that looked insurmountable in an exhibition game without the highest pitch of intensity. They extended the advantage to as many as 21 and entered the fourth quarter with a 19-point lead.

Iverson and the East clawed back. Some big shots from Vince Carter and Stephon Marbury aided Iverson’s first of two All-Star MVP performances. The game’s best players took the final minutes as seriously as fans can reasonably expect, and the East ultimately escaped with a victory thanks to a 41-21 surge in the fourth quarter.

Iverson dropped 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter in close proximity to his hometown of Hampton, Virginia. He fueled the memorable comeback with the aggressive drives to the rim that made him one of the most entertaining players in 76ers history.

Brown must’ve taken notice of Dikembe Mutombo’s performance for the East at the All-Star Game. The Sixers acquired the 7-foot-2 center two weeks later for a memorable playoff run.