Is End Near For The Sixers Center We Once Knew As Joel Embiid?

February 27, 2025

Is the Joel Embiid we once knew and loved done for forever? Are his knee issues too terrible to bounce back from? These are the questions on the minds of many.

And I bet the Philadelphia 76ers might feel that way too. They sure don’t seem to have any answers on what the future holds for Embiid. He probably is wondering himself.

Joel Embiid. Former NBA MVP. And perhaps a career that will never be the same.

This is something that was addressed in a column by Eric Karabell of ESPN.

“This section hurts a bit to type, because a healthy Embiid is such an appealing, wonderful player and his production for the past four-plus seasons may have warranted Hall of Fame attention, but the long-term picture is not a positive one,” Karabell wrote. “I have tiptoed around writing this section about the 2023 league MVP for months, hoping for the best when he was on the court, but it hasn’t been close to his best.

“The 76ers will likely shut Embiid and his balky left knee down for the rest of this embarrassing, lost season any minute.”

It is an embarrassment of a season. Signing Paul George to that huge contract was a mistake. It could cost head of basketball operations Daryl Morey his job. If that happens, coach Nick Nurse probably isn’t far behind. (General managers, after all, like to hire their own coach.)

All of that said, the biggest loss in the massive disappointment of a season very well could be Embiid, though no fault of his own. He just has peanut butter and jelly for knees.

Because of that, we may never see the Embiid we once knew again.

“One must wonder if Embiid can even stay active long enough to finish out his new contract (which goes through 2026-27),” Karabell wrote. “Sorry if it sounds too pessimistic, but this is a player with a long, frustrating history of missing playing time for all sorts of ailments (some his fault, some not), and players rarely become more durable in their 30s.”