Will Philadelphia 76ers be punished over Joel Embiid minutes restriction?

On Tuesday night, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid returned to the court for the first time in two months after undergoing surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his left knee. It was a big moment for the reining MVP and his team and in true Embiid fashion, he delivered. Yet, with less than half hour spent on the court, questions were always going to be asked.

Joel Embiid’s return could spell trouble for 76ers

As you would have seen by now, the Philadelphia 76ers had reason to celebrate on Tuesday night with the return of their star center Joel Embiid against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Yet, according to reports, the Sixers may have a problem on their hands where the sequence of events that led up to Embiid’s return are concerned. It is now understood that the NBA is “expected” to investigate the way in which the Cameroonian’s injury was handled.

To be clear, Embiid was listed as out on Monday afternoon and then again for Tuesday’s morning shootaround. At that point, the general consensus was that he would not be facing the Thunder that night. Clearly, that’s not what happened as his status was upgraded to ‘questionable’ at 5:30 p.m. ET that day which eventually led to him taking the court that night. Now, while that does not paint a positive picture, as this isn’t the first time, we’ve got to look at the context of it all i.e., Joel Embiid and the Sixers have been through quite a bit to get to this point.

Joel Embiid admits injury was tough to take

If you caught Joel Embiid’s performance against the Thunder on Tuesday night, it would have been hard to tell that the last eight weeks were what they were for the 30-year-old big man. On the night Embiid scored 24 points on 6-for-14 shooting, to go with six rebounds, seven assists, three steals (and six turnovers) in 29 minutes, while converting all 12 of his free-throw attempts in what turned out to be a 109-105 win. True, those numbers might seem like what you would expect from a player of Embiid’s status, however, it’s worth noting that the road back to this point has been long, something that the star noted after the game.

Speaking postgame with TNT, Embiid explained that while his return was successful it was not without continued difficult. Indeed when he was asked how he felt, his answer was frank. “Not good. But I’m glad we got through it and we got the win,” he said before going on to explain that it took “a lot” to get him back on the court. “It took a toll mentally,” he said. “I just wanted to come back. I think we got a chance, even at the level that I’m at. And I’m only going to get better. But this one was probably the hardest, by far, especially mentally.”

The journey back was ‘disappointing’ & ‘depressing’ for Joel Embiid

Those were the words used by Embiid while taking questions from the media at his locker postgame. The Sixers star began to elaborate elaborate on his journey back. “It was not a good one,” he said. “Usually, when I have injuries, I just tell myself move on, onto the next one, get better and then fix it. But this one, it took a toll mentally. Being depressed. And it was not a good one. Still not where I’m supposed to be, especially mentally, but I just love to play. I love basketball and I want to play, and, any chance that I can be out there, I’m going to take it. ...It took me a while to get over, and I still haven’t gotten over it,” he continued. “So I just gotta take it day by day, look at the positive: I’m back. So, hopefully, every single day, try to get better and get back to myself.”

Indeed, the notion of not feeling himself seemed to be a constant theme in the comments he gave, evidence by his response when another reporter stated that he seemed to be moving well. “You think so? I don’t think so. I thought I was pretty bad.” There was also his response to yet another reporter saying that he appeared to have lost weight. “No, I gained 50 pounds,” he said with a laugh before continuing, “No, I don’t know. I gained a lot of weight, so I’m pretty fat right now. But it’s OK. I’ll get back to myself. My face still looks skinny, though. But no, it’s hard. Any time you’re not playing, it’s impossible to get in shape. It doesn’t matter what you do.” To that end, Embiid spoke to his approach going forward, explaining that playing in games is “the best way to get in shape and that’s how I’ve always done it,” he said, “so I’m excited to keep pushing myself and hopefully, I get to where I want to be.”

“I think I’ve learned a lot over the years and I gotta take care of myself, gotta stay healthy because I still have a long career ahead of me. So I think it’s all about now and the future. So if something doesn’t feel right, then they’re going to shut it down.” This of course, as mentioned before, is not Embiid’s first injury though he did admit that “this time, it’s a little different, so it’s going to take me a while to get back to myself and really trust myself.”

So, what next for the 76ers & Joel Embiid?

At this point the Sixers are eighth in the Western Conference with a record of 42-35 following a 109-105 victory over the Miami Heat who are just ahead of them in seventh. With five games left in the regular season there is quite literally no margin for error for a team that was in a fight for the No. 2 seed prior to its star’s injury.

“You get pissed off,” he said of watching the team play from the sidelines. “...Because you feel like you could help and do something.” It should be said that Embiid has not been the only injury concern for the team with Tyrese Maxey out for a few games now and De’Anthony Melton (back) and Robert Covington (knee) out much longer.

”Honestly, the only thing that I want is us to be healthy, whether it’s Tyrese, Cov, Melt,” Embiid said. “I just want us to have that chance. Because we’re not going to be as good without everybody. So it’s not just about me.”