Embiid or Oden 2.0?

[Andrew]

At this point, Embiid may turn out to be in a whole different class to Oden, as far as busts are concerned. At least Oden has logged minutes in the NBA, and some quality minutes to boot.

[mp3]

Shocked.

My logic is every year a Sixers rookie has to sit out the year, maybe Okafor refused?

[Kevin]

Embiid covered for him

[mp3]

To be honest I think Joel seems like the type to be happy to just collect pay cheques

[Andrew]

Sounds like it's gone from "likely" to "will", as far as missing the upcoming season is concerned.

[mp3]

Has there every being a player to miss his first 2 years in the league without playing a single minute?

[Andrew]

Not counting players like Arvydas Sabonis who came to the NBA many years after being drafted, there was David Robinson...but of course, that was through fulfilling his military commitments, not due to injury.

[mp3]

Yeah everyone I can find like the Sam Bowie's of the world played minutes before they got hurt.

Honestly right now.... Len Bias

[Andrew]

Indeed, and he's on a whole other level again.

[Spree#8]

My logic is every year a Sixers rookie has to sit out the year, maybe Okafor refused?

Noel had a torn ACL. Embiid had a broken navicular bone in his foot, which apparently hasn't really healed. What a shocker that they sat out. Okafor is healthy, so there's no reason for him to sit out. Might be going a bit too far with the tanking jokes here.

With their collection of picks, Philly doesn't really need to tank anymore. If they're better than expected, they can swap picks with Sacramento, who will suck. And then there are the Lakers, where at this point I'm more worried about them defending the top3 protection than about the pick being low. Too bad this Embiid fiasco probably sets the process back another year.

To be honest I think Joel seems like the type to be happy to just collect pay cheques

The chatter from around the team is that Embiid is itching to get out on the court and this surgery was a tough sell for him since he says he isn't feeling any pain. They saw something they didn't like in a CT scan of the foot and, after consulting it with several specialists, made a decision to send him under the knife again. I wonder if the problem might be related to Joel apparently still growing. Says he's now 7'2 in sandals.

Bynum, though, fits your description perfectly.

[mp3]

It's the running joke around the league since Bynum that people the Sixers bring in sit out there first year with the team....

[NovU]

Well, if everything goes as planned, he'll be 23 when he finally logs a minute in this league. That's still ok age to start a NBA career but wasting nearly 3 full years off the basketball activities might have stunt his growth and potential.

In the meantime, I have a feeling Okafor will average close to double double.

[mp3]

The only problem is even if he is good to go next year 23 years old won't make a difference if he's playing on a 30 year old ankle.

Big Z had problems early in Cleveland but came back strong and had a career so there is nothing to say he couldn't either but there hasn't being many players that have missed so much time with the same injury and played a lengthy career

[NovU]

Indeed.


BTW glass foot sounds somewhat worse than glass ankle as Curry was able to erase his past being an infamous glass ankle and panned out to be a reigning MVP. Let's just hope he can pull of something similar to it rather than Oden.

[Andrew]

Curry's reputation was way overblown, though. He had one season where he had some ankle injuries and only played 26 games (and that was the lockout year of 2012, so it was 26 out of 66, not 26 out of 82). He's never played less than 74 games in any other season. It was suggested that his ankles were fragile, and somehow that reputation stuck; clearly, it wasn't that bad.

Embiid, on the other hand? Two surgeries, delaying his NBA debut by two years? Like Oden before him, there's a bit more to it, a bit more reason for concern.

[Mandich]

This sucks big balls.

His potential is unreal and everyone wants to see him play.

Get well and come back strong next year, I guess.

[NovU]

Joel Embiid (foot) re-broke the navicular bone in his right foot, sources told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Bad news is getting worse for Philadelphia. The Sixers issued a statement indicating Embiid hadn't healed as the team had hoped, but there was no indication that the big man had re-broken the bone again—until now. Embiid is facing another lost season and an uphill battle to prove he can get—and stay—on the floor.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News Jul 20 - 8:37 AM

Glass foot confirmed.

Looks like Okafor is the future in Philly.

[Kevin]

Most of the time I'd feel bad about something like this but there's just something about him that makes me want to hate him. Probably his immaturity.

[mp3]

I totally get that, I think I feel the same about it too.

I think it was to find out that he was blowing off rehabbing sessions and battling coaching staff when he wasn't even playing, those reports made me dislike his work ethic.

[Spree#8]

There's a lot of uncertainty about what the hell happened to the foot this time around, but this is the first report claiming that he broke it again. All the Sixers have been saying is "less healing than anticipated at this point". I'm not convinced yet, would need some further confirmation.

Anyway, if it is true, his career is most likely fucked. If it isn't, two surgeries and zero games played in two years is still a very bad prognosis for the future. It's like it hardly even matters anymore. We need to move forward with Noel and Okafor.

[Sauru]

Most of the time I'd feel bad about something like this but there's just something about him that makes me want to hate him. Probably his immaturity.

dont feel bad. there are many people in this world with problems like this that dont have millions of dollars and top notch medical doctors to fall back on

[Michael_OS]

Poor guy. The guilt and pressure of being the 3rd pick and cannot contribute to his team must be eating him up.

[bowdown]

He doesn't seem like the kind to be burdened by guilt.