Philadelphia 76ers bet NBA centers reemerge in importance

CAMDEN,NJ - SEPTEMBER 26: Jahlil Okafor
CAMDEN,NJ - SEPTEMBER 26: Jahlil Okafor
4 of 5
CAMDEN,NJ – SEPTEMBER 26: Jahlil Okafor
CAMDEN,NJ – SEPTEMBER 26: Jahlil Okafor

Applying medical knowledge to basketball

The Philadelphia 76ers have had incredibly poor luck so far regarding their young talent and injuries. But it’s virtually impossible to distinguish severity from the risks involved with playing a slight injury with no incentive for the season.

More from Sixers News

82 games is a long season. Playing hurt in basketball, with no chance at post season, is foolish in many ways. Why would a team like the Philadelphia 76ers ask Ben Simmons, Jahlil Okafor, or even Joel Embiid, to step back onto a basketball court for the last handful of games, knowing surgery followed the season?

Injury status matters this season

But this season is shaping up to be a far different matter. The Philadelphia 76ers are aiming at post season, and many believe they have a shot.  Now the team must do something it has not done for five years.

Stay healthy.

But no position is more important to this team than the center position.  The Philadelphia 76ers have invested far too much into that position to allow Embiid or Holmes or Okafor to be sidelined with injury for too long.  If this team succeeds, it will cause a shift once more for the NBA.