Fresh updates emerged after Joel Embiid’s last-minute setback! The big man has a lot going on with his fitness since the start of this season. After a prolonged pause to his season debut, the star center has once again headed back to his nest, citing his knee injury. Tonight, moments before the NBA Cup clash against the Brooklyn Nets, Embiid magically appeared on the injury report, crushing the fans’ hope to see him play.

Amid this grim update in the City of Brotherly Love, Sham Charania, the renowned NBA Insider, dropped a timeline of the star’s return. The update revealed that the Cameroonian was managing the swelling in his left knee and would also miss Sunday’s game against the LA Clippers.

This has been the story of the Sixers from the beginning. In the offseason, the rest of the NBA world was envious of the Philly fan. The team roped in Paul George and Joel Embiid came fresh off a brilliant gold-medal-winning performance in the Paris Olympics. However, everything went to shambles after Embiid opened up his back-to-back game situation and Paul George’s pre-season knee injury. And to further top it all, Tyrese Maxey also missed several games with a hamstring injury.

These injuries further pushed the debut of the Big 3 together in a game. However, it finally happened two days ago in the game against the Grizzlies. But it quickly came to an end after Paul George injured his knee again and in the very next game, which was tonight, Embiid missed out, citing injury management. Now, both players wouldn’t be available for the Sunday game. Fortunately, tonight’s absence didn’t affect the game, as they sealed a comfortable victory!

Can the Sixers be off the Joel Embiid trouble?

The Sixers have been dealing with the Embiid trouble not only on the court but also off the court. Apart from the injury worry, the big man got caught up in a spat with a columnist after he shoved the reporter in an argument. The league suspended him for three days. Following that, a new controversy emerged after someone leaked Tyrese Maxey’s conversation about Embiid from the team meeting.

Apparently, the young gun seemed to be disappointed with Embiid coming late to the team meeting and practice, affecting the rest of the team. Shams Charania’s report quoted the informer, “Tyrese loves Big Fella, but this is the elephant in the room”. Importantly, many rumors suggested that it was the team’s coach, Nick Nurse, who leaked the quote. However, there isn’t any proof of it.

Moreover, Coach Nurse, speaking of the leak, said, “One of the things I’ve noticed — with any team, but particularly in the NBA — was a lot of times there were issues or problems… We’re not talking about serious things here, but there’s some little problem or whatever. But everybody knows that if we talk about it, this player’s going to get offended or that coach is going to get offended, so everybody just kind of swallows it, hopes that nobody brings it up, and then we can get out of here.”

The Sixers indeed to figure their way out of this slump and get the team back on top before it’s too late? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.