Injuries marred the early portion of Joel Embiid’s career, but for the majority of this season, the Philadelphia 76ers star has been able to remain healthy. That changed, however, on Thursday night, when the team announced that Embiid would miss two to four weeks with a concussion and orbital bone fracture.
Those are a lot of scientific medical words, but basically, what happened is this: Joel Embiid broke his face, and he did so by crushing it on the shoulder of teammate Markelle Fultz.
Because of this injury, Embiid is at serious risk of missing some or even all of the first round of the playoffs. The 76ers, a group of young upstarts who have stormed their way to the third seed in the Eastern Conference after spending the last few years collecting draft picks and assets, may have to make their triumphant return to the playoffs without their best player. The timing of this injury is absolutely brutal.
It only adds insult to injury that Embiid was injured by his teammate’s shoulder, and not just any teammate, but 2017 first overall pick Fultz who missed about five months to rehabilitate that very shoulder. Of course, it was a freak accident that couldn’t possibly be blamed on Fultz, but on a superficial level, it has the feel of a self-inflicted wound.
There’s no denying that the 76ers have young talent in spades. They still have Ben Simmons, a contender for Rookie of the Year, and Fultz has come on strong since his return from injury last week. Players such as Robert Covington, J.J. Redick and Dario Saric will help to keep things steady.
But, if the 76ers have to enter the playoffs without Embiid, it really does put a damper on what should be validation for their rebuild. After spending all of those years abiding by their “Trust the Process” mantra, pure chance might rob them of their best player.
At least you know Embiid is still Trusting the Process.
