Joel Embiid has dealt with a plethora of injuries even before the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him in 2014. Injuries have plagued his entire career so much that he has officially missed more games than he has played in his NBA career.
When he's on the court, Embiid is a tremendous player. And at his peak, he was legitimately dominant. But the injury concerns are not getting any better for the recently turned 32-year-old.
In a recent episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Wosny Lambre, formerly of The Athletic and The Ringer, opined that Embiid's situation isn't going to improve and that he realistically might walk away from the game once his contract expires in 2029 (assuming he picks up his $67.4 million player option for the 2028-29 season).
"This guy is resigned to his fate. It's over. He knows his body is never going to cooperate," Lambre said about Embiid. "He signed his big deal. He's going to play out the string. He's going to ride off into the sunset with his $600 million in earnings or something like that, and God bless him. He worked his [expletive] off for it.
"But again, even back in January, December, when Joel was having some awesome offensive nights, and it looked like the defense was coming back, I'm like, 'Man, this is so cool to watch,' just knowing in the back of my head this is just not sustainable. And the sad truth is it's not going to change. None of this is gonna change."
The 76ers will not be able to contend without Joel Embiid
As it stands, the Kansas alum is in the midst of a 10-game absence caused by an oblique injury with no concrete timetable for his return. Additionally, he has played in just two games since the All-Star break and five games since the beginning of February.
In 36 games without Embiid this season, Philadelphia is 16-20, according to StatMuse.com. It's clear that the team is way worse when he's not on the court, even if he's not the same player he was when he won the MVP award in 2023. This, of course, also includes games without Paul George (who is currently suspended) and Tyrese Maxey (who has been out of action since Mar. 7 due to a finger injury), but Embiid still provides real value to the team when he's available.
Unfortunately for the 76ers, they haven't really figured out how to navigate through life without Embiid, and this is going to be one of their biggest concerns if he isn't healthy enough come playoff time.
Andre Drummond and Adem Bona provide value in their own ways, but neither of them is good enough to be an Embiid replacement. To be fair, not many players in the league are, but the 76ers could still do a lot better (to be clear, I like Bona a lot. I just don't think he's a starting center on a playoff team at this point).
Hopefully for the team and for the main himself, Embiid comes back stronger, healthier, and better than ever. But until it actually happens, this is just going to be another unfortunate "what-if" in a career that has been marred by them.