Three games into the regular season, this season has been as controversial as ever for the Philadelphia 76ers. Having dealt with multiple star guards sitting out to start the season over the past four years, the Sixers have mixed it up this year as it has been their star center who has yet to take the court.
Before diving too deep, this matter is, for the most part, separate from Paul George‘s absence, mainly due to the fact that the world witnessed his injury, and there has been no real opportunity for Philadelphia to deny said injury—though they’ve certainly kept their updates as ambiguous as possible. The recovery time for a bone bruise is frankly inconsistent, with some players returning after a couple of weeks and some missing months of action, making the lack of accurate updates more understandable when comparing the two situations.
Regarding Embiid, the difference between the holdouts of Ben Simmons and James Harden versus that of Joel Embiid is vast, as Simmons and Harden were both dissatisfied with their situation in Philadelphia, whereas Embiid is simply continuing to ramp up to ensure he’s in the best shape possible, or is it because of a lingering knee injury?
The extreme lack of transparency by the team created a heavy cloud of doubt over the situation. After the news of the $100,000 fine that the NBA assessed the Sixers for inconsistent public comments on Embiid’s condition—the word used by the NBA, that doubt has only increased.
Leading up to, and even early during, the regular season, the Sixers maintained that Embiid has suffered no setbacks, that he is only out as a part of an “individual treatment plan” and is simply “ramping up” to be able to play. The NBA meanwhile has deemed Embiid’s knee condition to be reasonable unfit to play on, excusing his absence to start the season.
As frustrating as the injury news is, it’s only exacerbated by the lack of honest updates from the organization. No good team shows their hand fully, but a team that knowingly provides inconsistent updates invites controversy, especially considering both the severity of the situation, and their history of commit the very same sin.
For a team so adamant about avoiding controversy, the Sixers are shockingly adept and creating it for themselves.
Had Philadelphia set anything close to the proper expectation from the onset, the public backlash would have been unpleasant, without a doubt, but it would not have reached the current levels.
Sixers fans would, by and large, be dissatisfied—angered even—by Embiid’s absence to begin the year, regardless of what the team said. What makes the situation worse is that by continuously extending that ray of hope, not only to dash it later but to have the league reveal an issue the organization said was non-existent.
Throughout the process, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has continuously been rolled out in front of the media as the only direct two-way spokesperson on the matter. The team has made several announcements, but Nurse has been the face put at the forefront of the controversy, which is admittedly unfair to him. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey would surely have no different answer, but Sixers fans would at least appreciate the offer, at least until after Morey spoke.
What makes the situation even more frustrating is that in a post-fine world, the team’s approach so far has been even more clandestine than before, opting to refuse questions on the subject and speaking in general, undefined terms instead of using concrete verbiage.
This was seen in Nick Nurse’s post-practice media session in which he referred the first question on Embiid and Paul George back to the team’s update and shut down the second question before it could even be asked.
“I’m not going answer,” Nurse said. “Anybody else got anything? They’ve given you the updates on that, right?
Nurse’s frustration is understandable, but the seemingly coached lack of a response will not improve the situation for Philly.
Through both the team’s announcement and Nurse deflecting when directly asked about Embiid and George’s participation in five-on-five scrimmages, the team avoided the opportunity to earn back some favor in the fanbase but squandered it, only to have the scoop go to ESPN’s Shams Charania a few hours later.
There may be light at the end of the tunnel for Philadelphia, as Charania said, but it’s also clear the organization has not felt a need to change its approach, which will only welcome similar issues down the line.
As much trouble as the Sixers have caused for themselves, the true victim is the fanbase, who continues to support the team financially while being given inconsistent updates on the health of their stars. Last season, the Sixers hosted the third-highest average attendance of fans in the league. Though they’ve only played one game at home so far, the team holds a top-four average attendance number this season.
When it comes to being even just a bit more transparent, the Sixers have every reason to do so, whether it’s for the benefit of their fans or themselves.
