With a history of histories during the postseason and his unavailability this season, it’s easy to blame Joel Embiid. His chronic knee injury, which has seen multiple surgeries still remains fragile. It has limited him to playing just 17 games this season. It’s also been “depressing” for the former MVP. Most would akin his recurring injuries to his work ethic. ‘Embiid doesn’t take off his body’ might be the accusation stamped on the Philadelphia 76ers juggernaut. But that’s far away from the truth.

To put Embiid’s case into perspective, the Hoop Collective podcast invited NBA trainer Drew Hanlen. He has worked with several superstars, most recently helping fix Tatum’s jump shot. In Hanlen’s experience with Joel Embiid, laid back is the last adjective he would use for the dominant center. He used the 30-year-old’s history to prove it.

“I think that, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, he’s lazy. That’s why he’s, you know, injured right now is because he’s lazy. And I always have to rewind back and I say, guys, this guy picked up a basketball at the age of 16… And now fast forward a decade later, he’s a, you know, a scoring champ, an MVP, one of the most dominant players of all time. I’m like, you don’t magically become really, really good at basketball,” Hanlen stated.

Just two years into his basketball journey, Joel Embiid was good enough to be a standout athlete in college. The 76ers chose with the third pick. But a broken navicular bone kept him out for two whole seasons. Having started as late as he did and with such a large frame, staying healthy without being accustomed to the physicality of basketball was never going to be easy.

However, even through those battles, Joel Embiid has emerged as a brutal force. “There’s very few people that could state claim to being like the most dominant two-way players of all time. And I would say, when healthy, at their best, Joel has a case to argue against anybody,” Hanlen suggests.

Without understanding his history and the fact that these injuries cause more distress to him than any of the fans, trolling Embiid might come naturally. The truth is the Cameroonian center has had a unique journey in basketball. He didn’t begin preparing his conditioning for the grueling demands until the age of 16 when he first noticed an affinity towards the game.

With that said, Embiid is still fighting through his turmoil and looking to be healthy.

Joel Embiid will not be traded, according to Broussard

With another injury-laden season, analysts have outgrown their tolerance when it comes to Joel Embiid. Many NBA legends have also suggested the 76ers forego ‘The Process.’. However, Chris Broussard feels that it’s nearly impossible. His reasonings, though, weren’t related to Embiid being the fix for Philly.

Rather, due to his injury history, the Fox analyst thinks that no NBA team would leverage their competitive chances on the 30-year-old. “Embiid and Paul George are as close to untradeable as imaginable. I mean, both are… Embiid’s got our years $250 million roughly left, and he is broken down.,” Broussard suggested.

He feels the best care scenario for the Philadelphia 76ers is to shut down Joel Embiid for the season. The dynamic center recently suggested he might need another knee surgery in the offseason. But Chris Broussard feels the 76ers should have the procedure done right now, as their team sits at 20-34 and is the 11th seed in the East. The reason to do so is to have Embiid focus on getting healthy and in shape for when the next season begins.

Such a strategy could be implemented. But what if the pattern continues? The Philadelphia 76ers have shown patience. The move for Paul George though was a signal of them wanting to contend in the following three years. At this point, PG13 has underperformed and also suffered his fair share of bruises along the way. Moreover, Embiid remains on injury watch for the foreseeable future.

It’s a tricky situation for the franchise. But one thing they know is that Joel Embiid wants to compete. He is still good enough to average 24.9 points per game behind a budding Tyrese Maxey. Maybe he can be the secondary and slowly build towards being the behemoth he is known to be.

Still, the fine line will always exist. It depends on just how severe the implications could be if Embiid suffers another catastrophic knee injury before getting surgery.