The Philadelphia 76ers will look to punch their spot in the postseason when they square off against the Orlando Magic in the No. 7-No. 8 seed game in the Eastern Conference side of the NBA’s Play-In Tournament. However, when they take the court, they will be without superstar center Joel Embiid, who was forced to undergo an emergency appendectomy earlier this month.
Embiid’s status for the time being is up in the air, which is just the latest blow when it comes to his quest to lead the Sixers on a championship run. Ahead of the team’s upcoming contest, analyst Skip Bayless boldly claimed that Embiid isn’t actually injured, and that he simply doesn’t want to play for Philadelphia. It didn’t take long for insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints to come in and quickly dispute those comments, though.
Insider Fires Back at Skip Bayless’ Joel Embiid Comments
Ever since winning the MVP Award in the 2022-23 campaign, Embiid’s career has been plagued by injuries. He’s missed at least half of Philadelphia’s games in each of the past three years, and this season, he suited up in just 38 games. When Embiid has played, he’s looked like himself, but simply staying on the court has been a major issue for him.
An emergency appendectomy is just the latest issue Embiid has had to deal with. While he appears to be doing fine for the time being, he cannot play basketball right now. According to Bayless, though, that isn’t the truth, as he said on “Gil’s Arena” that he has heard Embiid could play, but he simply does not want to.
Bayless isn’t exactly a reliable source of insider information in the NBA world, but his comments still caught the attention of fans who quickly wondered if this claim was true. They were shut down almost immediately by Siegel, who confirmed Embiid is not healthy enough to play, while also bashing Bayless for even suggesting this was the case.
“This is not true whatsoever, and to say something like this is disgusting for a guy who underwent an emergency procedure that would be life-threatening if left unchecked,” Siegel said in response to Bayless’ comments in a post on X. “The guy just had surgery, and he needs time to recover. This is so wrong to even say.”
76ers Looking to Book Spot in 2026 NBA Playoffs Without Joel Embiid
GettyPhiladelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to address appendicitis. The 76ers made two roster moves as a result.
Embiid could return at some point if the 76ers make it to the postseason, but the team is going to have to win in order to give him a shot to do so. While it’s understandably frustrating that he won’t be on the court for Philadelphia’s most important game of the season, his health is obviously the most important part of the equation here.
The first step towards getting Embiid back in action involves beating the Magic and setting up a first-round date with the Boston Celtics. Orlando just lost to what was essentially Boston’s reserve unit in its regular-season finale, despite the fact that it was trying to win, so it’s safe to say the team doesn’t have much momentum right now. Still, anything can happen in the NBA, meaning the Sixers are going to need to bring their A-game when they take the court on Wednesday night.
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