It has been a season from hell for the Philadelphia 76ers.
And in the middle of it all, has been franchise star Joel Embiid.
The 76ers big man has played in just 18 games out of Philadelphia’s 55.
They are 20-35 and currently the 11th seed in the lowly Eastern Conference.
Embiid has been battling a variety of injuries this year, but most notably a left knee injury that has hindered him all season.
The same knee that underwent lateral meniscus surgery last February.
Coming off a 20-point loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, Embiid was asked how much the knee injury has hindered him and admitted that it hasn’t been easy.
He even hinted at a possibly surgery down the road.
“I don’t know,” Embiid said.
“I’m sure you can figure it out.
“The way I was playing a year ago is not the way I’m playing right now and it sucks. But I believe I probably need to fix the problem and I’ll be back at that level.
“But it’s hard to have the trust when you’re not yourself.
“I’m not as dominant as I was a couple months ago, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t have a lot of impact on the game.
“Just me being out there, I think it helps a lot — just my presence, my ability to attract double teams, getting guys more shots.
“But my dominant self, I’ll get there. It’s just tough because you know you can do so much more.
“There’s no excuses; it’s just the way it is. Just got to keep finding ways to figure it out and get better.”
In the 18 games that Embiid has played, he’s averaged 24.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
While still very productive, he has been nowhere near his dormant former MVP self.
He is shooting 45 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from three-point range and doesn’t force as many free throws as he normally does.
Embiid won a gold medal with Team USA over the summer at the Paris Olympics, and even quite then never looked the same.
Before the season started, the Sixers signed their franchise player to a 3-year, $193M extension in September, knowing full well the issues he had been dealing with.
The extension brought his current deal to a Toal of nearly $300 million, that also includes a player option in the contract’s last year in 2028-2029.
The 76ers went into the season with title aspirations, but instead are now dancing around the lottery.
Their major addition of free agent Paul George this past summer has been woefully underwhelming.
George has been flat out terrible.
They now have many more questions than answers.
No one could have envisioned this back in October when many were picking Philadelphia to come out of the East.
Now they will be lucky if they make the Play-In.
Don’t worry Sixers fans, you still have the Eagles.
