The clock is ticking for Joel Embiid! Yesterday, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that the big man will undergo a season-ending surgery and promised a long-term relationship with him. While it was a surprise to see the trust that the team had in former MVP, NBA Insider Shams Charania shattered all of it with a shocking update from the Sixers fold. Looks like the City of Brotherly Love will finally have to let go of the big man.

Featuring on the NBA on ESPN, Charania reported that Embiid personally visited the Sixers owner Josh Harris before the big decision. The national reporter said the Cameroonian wanted to discuss, “the state of his knee and about where the realization he’s at with what’s in the best interest of him, the potential shutdown.“ ‘Cause why wouldn’t he? Owner Harris owes over $300 million in salary to the big man for the next five years. The severity of the injury will determine whether the Sixers would risk it.

Apart from the future-determining meet-up, Charania also revealed the growing rift between Joel Embiid and the franchise. Remember when the 30-year-old said he would never play a back-to-back game ever in his career? Instead, he barely played any games, missing most of the season due to knee injury management.

It’s been the story so far where Embiid believed he needed a “different treatment approach” whereas the Sixers wanted him to get good conditioning and continue to play this season. Charania also added the efforts that the team took to keep him game-ready, saying, “They manage the swelling in multiple different ways, including injections monthly just to get him on the court.”

Anyway, now that the team has decided to trust him on another surgery, Shams concluded that the team was “lockstep“ about getting Embiid on the court in the most sustainable way possible.

Will the 76ers stick with Joel Embiid after his injury return?

“Joel Embiid is officially done,” said former NBA Champion Kendrick Perkins on live TV. The Celtic legend went on to clarify that he didn’t mean that Embiid should retire, but highlighted that the former MVP wasn’t the same as he used to be in his prime. If that’s true, the question falls on the Sixers’ management again. Should they be risking $300 million on a player who cannot bring his best to the court?

Moreover, Perkins didn’t stop at that. He went on to drop a major accusation against Joel Embiid, saying, “He has a history. And everyone knows this about having bad habits, right? When he played in the Olympics, guys around him in the Olympics, his teammates. They were tripping out about his bad habits. It’s time for him to have a level of accountability.” 

As the 40-year-old analyst didn’t elaborate on the “bad habits“, we can’t comment on that issue. But we know that Embiid played a significant role in helping Team USA mow down the opponents to clinch the Olympic gold in Paris.
Little did we know that it would be the last time we saw him in full flow. Months after the gold quest, he announced the skepticism surrounding the recovery of his knee. So, what’s in the store for Embiid? Will the Sixers wait for their big man? Or will they trade him? Let us know in the comments below.