One of the biggest surprises of the season’s openers for this 2024-25 NBA year was Joel Embiid’s absence. Yes, it is well known that the player constantly falls to injury, but no one really understood the gravity of his current situation. This is one of the reasons why Charles Barkley is already speaking his mind about how the 76ers are handling it.
Now that TNT’s Inside the NBA crew is back at the studio, this past Thursday they rambled on about the unavailability of the former league MVP star. Even though Philadelphia did not have a game that night, Chuck didn’t hold back with his assessment over why Embiid is already missing some action.
The Hall of Famer is well known for thrashing modern players when they complain about load management, and this week wasn’t the exception with Joel said that he would no longer be able to play in back-to-back games. After this, the NBA responded by announcing an investigation into the Sixers’ violation of player resting policy.
“We’re not steel workers, we’re not nurses… we’re playing basketball, at the most, four days a week.”
Embiid’s load management isn’t flying with Chuck 👀 pic.twitter.com/PC2HZd9HwK
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 24, 2024
“He just signed for three years, $193 million … to play basketball. We’re not steel workers, we’re not workers — people who got real jobs, who have to work 40, 50 hours a week. We’re playing basketball — at the most — four days a week. Most of the time, three days a week.
“He has the best backup in the league in (Andre) Drummond … to come out and say (he’s not playing) in advance, was stupidity by the Sixers,” Barkley ranted on about the player who only competed in 39 games last season because of knee injuries.
“There’s been no setbacks,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse told reporters Tuesday about the healthy status on Embiid, who last season averaged career highs of 34.7 points, 5.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per contest. “He’s really active. He’s lost some weight. And he’s out on the court. Just kind of sticking with our plan of making sure we’re getting into a really, really good place before we play him live.”
Let’s not forget that not too long ago, the big man was in the height of his career. In Philadelphia’s 133-123 win over the San Antonio Spurs on January 22, the center star recorded a career-high 70 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block in 37 minutes of action.
Philly’s president Daryl Morey said they must be ‘smart about it’ and truly analyze if their two biggest stars should play in back-to-backs this campaign
Not only did the 76ers organization extend Embiid for three more years, but they also acquired Paul George in what some might consider the most important signing of the summer. Earlier this month, Daryl Morey explained why would try to keep both veteran stars will probably be out of back-to-backs this season.
“We’re going to be smart about it. Part of being smart about it is having both Paul [George] and Joel probably not play many back-to-backs, if any,” said the team’s president of basketball operations when consulted about both athlete’s availability during this start of the competition.
If we take into consideration the NBA’s player participation policy, no more than one star player can be unavailable for the same match. The league allows pre-approved designated back-to-back allowances for players who are 35 years old on opening night. This is why the NBA is investigating the situation.
Embiid, who recently said that “If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career,” lost 25 to 30 pounds as he entered training camp last month. The big man will continue to ear a brace to protect his left knee, and hopes to continue to lose more weight.
