“There is a lot more work to do. You guys deserve a championship and I think we’re just getting started!” Joel Embiid gave out this promise after he signed a whopping 3-year, $193 million extension with the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s been 5 months since he made the remarks, almost 4 months since the commencement of the NBA regular season, and the player is far from fulfilling his promise. If the Philadelphia 76ers hold a 20-35 win record today, a major reason lies in the Center’s unavailability. After all, having missed 38 games this season, he could not fulfill his role as lead scorer. In light of this, a former 76ers legend couldn’t help but wonder what the future would hold for Embiid and Co.

The ‘Inside the NBA’ crew touched base on the Philadelphia 76ers after the team’s recent 124-104 loss against the Boston Celtics. It now marks the 6 consecutive game that the Philadelphia franchise has lost, which put their goal of reaching the playoffs much further away. Charles Barkley, who served as the power forward/small forward for the team between 1984 and 1992, was straightforward in placing blame where he felt it belonged.

After being questioned by Ernie Johnson, Barkley stated, “The Sixers, they’re in trouble as a franchise. They got a guy who can’t stay healthy, who they going to pay 65-70 million the next five years. They got Paul George, who had two points, who just signed a four-year max deal. And you know my thing is, guys don’t get better when they get older. I think the Sixers are in serious trouble as a franchise.”

Joel Embiid is, by no account, a poor player. Neither has he crossed his prime. After all, in the previous season, he had recorded the highest stats of his career by scoring 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. At the same time, however, he only made 39 appearances that season, his second-lowest after his rookie season (31).

Embiid has been one of the most injury-prone players of the modern NBA, but his scoring makes him a ‘High Risk, High Reward’ player. Unfortunately, by giving the Center a 3-year, $193 million extension in September, Daryl Morey has only incurred high risk this season. A risk that will affect the team in the long term too. If he’s fit, he’s a bonafide star. Sadly, those legs give up on him.

“And this is….. it’s unfortunate. I like Joel Embiid as a person, but man, you can’t…… availability is the best ability,” Barkley continued. “And he said, he probably needs another knee surgery after the season. And, this team here, this team could be, they don’t have their picks. This team could be in trouble for the next decade, in my opinion.”

Since the commencement of the NBA season, Joel Embiid has suffered from injury management, knee ailments, illness, face injury, and foot injury. The player’s recent troubles with his knee seem to be less of a bother now, as it allowed him to play for 27 minutes, and record 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Unfortunately, the player himself isn’t too sure how much he can rely on his knee in its current condition.

Joel Embiid reveals that low trust in his knee prevents him from being dominant

NBA reporter Kyle Neubeck questioned Joel Embiid directly after the 76ers-Celtics matchup. During the same, Neubeck asked whether the player does, or does not, trust his knee nowadays to do on-court tasks that he did the previous season.

The Cameroonian-born player candidly replied “I don’t know. I’m sure that you can figure it out. The way I was playing a year ago, is not the way I’m playing right now. It sucks, but I believe I probably need, you know, to fix the problem, and then I’ll be back at that level. But it’s hard to have the trust when you’re not yourself.”

It’s disappointing to see a player as talented as Embiid facing multiple injury problems. For a player to win MVP a few seasons back and not have an influence on the 76ers, sparks trouble. We might be forced to think the 76ers front office messed his contract up. And now, they are stuck not knowing what to do.

Despite it all, and Embiid himself admitting that he isn’t as dominant as he was a couple of months ago, he still believes that he can have “a lot of impact on the game”. Well, if he can, then be better to act fast. Time is running out for him and the Philadelphia 76ers.