Philadelphia 76ers: Get well soon, Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid is a careful individual who takes COVID-19 very seriously.

He wore a hazmat suit to the NBA bubble, sat comically far away from his Philadelphia 76ers teammates for much of the 2020-21 season after Seth Curry came down with his own infection, and received the vaccine as soon as he could to help protect himself and his young family.

And yet, it ultimately didn’t matter, as Embiid became the latest person to contract the virus as a breakthrough infection, which will sideline him for the next 10 days or until he records two-straight negative tests, whichever comes sooner.

So Joel Embiid, as you symptomatically sit at home as the Philadelphia 76ers soldier on in an increasingly tricky effort to keep their win streak going, I think I can speak for the rest of the City of Brotherly Love in saying get well soon!

Let’s hope the Philadelphia 76ers get a healthy Joel Embiid back soon.

Joel Embiid’s 2021-22 has been deceptively good.

First, the good: Embiid is averaging a career-high four assists and a career-low three turnovers per game while draining 39.4 percent of his 3s on 3.7 attempts per game. He’s kept his team together in an increasingly dire situation and has fully embraced being the total heart and soul of the 76ers to very good results.

But why the deceptive part? Well, because to the naked eye, Embiid’s points, field goal percentage, and even free throw attempts/makes are down in roughly the same minutes of action a night.

For a fantasy basketball manager, or just a fan who keeps a closer eye on the stat sheet than the hardwood, this may be signifying that Embiid has struggled without his once and potentially future arranged on-court partner in crime, but for the most part, that hasn’t been the case.

Sure, Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton, and Furkan Korkmaz are far less likely to dish out a picturesque dime worthy of immortalization in the annals of a YouTube highlight reel, which in turn forces Embiid to take lower percentage midrange looks more often than in years prior, but the added spacing and pick-and-roll pop associated with these more traditional ball handlers is a big reason why the Sixers have been so good even with a varying supporting cast from night to night.

After years of folks like yours truly asking Embiid to take on more playmaking duties to take advantage of being double-teamed so often, the Big Fella’s game has evolved in a very advantageous way and his team is performing incredibly well because of it.

But now, with Embiid out, the Philadelphia 76ers’ supporting cast will have to prove they can keep their collective house in order while their fearless leader is on the mend.

So Joel Embiid, get well soon. While the Philadelphia 76ers will undoubtedly miss you on the court, your physical well-being supersedes that. If anything, a 10-day stay on the injury report may ultimately prove valuable recovery time for your knee, which could then lead to even better on-court performances once you get back to full strength. Gotta look on the bright side, right?