After months of speculation over whether he'd be ready to start the 2025-26 campaign, Joel Embiid made his long-awaited return to the hardwood on Wednesday night during the Philadelphia 76ers' opener against the Boston Celtics.
While the contest resulted in a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire win for the Sixers, who beat the C's 117-116, for those who actually watched, it was a rather bittersweet showing.
On the one hand, fans should be absolutely thrilled and excited about the club's new-look backcourt with Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe spearheading their point of attack, as they combined for 74 points.
On the other hand, however, the game served as a clear indicator that, even with him fully cleared to play, Embiid is still far from his superstar, MVP-winning self. It's sad to say, but there's a real chance we may actually never see that version of him ever again.
Not in full, anyway.
Sixers star Joel Embiid will likely never be close to his MVP self again
Despite going on record ahead of Wednesday's game that he feels like he's in a "good space mentally, physically," it was pretty apparent throughout his 20 minutes of play against Boston that he looked to be far from both.
The big man played timid and rather passive right out of the gates, attempting just four shots (all misses) and even getting blocked by role player Xavier Tillman in the first quarter of play.
It took him until the 9:21 mark of the second period before knocking down his first jumper. Sadly, he wouldn't hit another for the rest of the contest.
By the time he was pulled for good at the 9:18 mark in the final quarter, the Sixers cornerstone had accumulated a truly lackluster stat line of four points and six rebounds on just 11.1 percent shooting from the floor.
Now, sure, some may be quick to say that this kind of rust should have been expected following an eight-month injury-induced hiatus, and, to a certain extent, they'd be right.
However, we're talking about a player who, not three seasons ago, was dropping a league-leading 33.1 points per night and was dubbed the game's Most Valuable Player.
Even in that season, Embiid was hobbled by injuries, though he was able to scrape by the 65-game threshold to be eligible and, ultimately, win this prestigious honor.
Now, after kicking off his 10 active season in the association, fears could and very likely should be mounting over whether the big man's best days are officially behind him.
While he may only be 31 years old and technically in the prime of his career, Wednesday's opener certainly didn't give Sixers fans any confidence in believing the contrary.