As if fate is having a field day on the circus, the Philadelphia 76ers are operating on two extremes right now. On one hand, this team has shown the capacity to get themselves in some pretty harsh skids. On the other, they have exhibited a somewhat puzzling ability of rising to the occasion and turning in a win streak out of the blue, alongside some highlight wins here and there.
That has been the story of the season so far for the 76ers which, after dropping seven straight games to open 2025, have suddenly won four straight outings. The team seemed poised to be headed toward disaster until their inconsistency — the one tipped toward the positive — took them away from continuing to play unwatchable basketball.
Having said that, part and parcel behind Philly’s chronic inconsistencies on both ends this season is Joel Embiid and his relentless absence on the hardwood. The superstar has emerged as a big talking point for the franchise internally, and even though they will never admit it, there must now be some sense of frustration with his situation, right?
Staggering stat shows everything the Philadelphia 76ers should accept about Joel Embiid
A lot of teams are able to milk almost everything out of their stars, and that has been reflected in the way minutes are dominantly allocated to them. To illustrate, the 76ers are playing Tyrese Maxey nearly 38 minutes per outing, which is the second-highest mark in the NBA as of writing.
The league leader? As expected, resident NBA iron man Mikal Bridges leads the pack with 38.5 minutes per game. In the last 11 games alone, the swingman had logged 396 minutes. Guess the number for Embiid for the entire season.
383. Spread across 13 games.
Not to sound like a broken record, but that is perhaps the most defining stat comparison to paint the most accurate picture about Embiid’s situation not only this season, but probably moving forward. While the 76ers continue to brand him as a franchise player, he is certainly unable to discharge his duties as such.
A constantly unavailable player, no matter how talented he might be, stifles his value by a ton and lowers the team’s ceiling tremendously. Given the relative parity in the league, it is what catapults a franchise into an endless loop of what-ifs.
Joel Embiid is not getting any younger. He is also already an impossible case of trying to be a dependable piece on the nightly. The Philadelphia 76ers, for better or for worse, should just embrace this reality and start moving with less idealism with regard to their superstar.