It’s Tuesday, November 12, and it’s been three weeks to the day since the 2024-25 NBA season began. Three weeks during which Sixers fans waited for Joel Embiid. That’s it, the moment has finally arrived: Philadelphia’s star center is going to play basketball this evening.
Joel Embiid “chose” the opening of the Emirates NBA Cup and a spicy reunion with the Knicks, opponents in the last Playoffs, to make his debut this season.
For the first time this year, the 2023 MVP is not on the Sixers’ injury report. A moment that coach Nick Nurse and the rest of the Philadelphia team were impatiently awaiting, as the Sixers have suffered from his absence since the restart.
Without Embiid (left knee), but also without Paul George and recently without Tyrese Maxey, Philly lost seven of its first nine games. A completely messed up start which places the Sixers in 12th place in a very weak Eastern Conference. In addition to the successive defeats, there have also been several controversies outside the courts, particularly concerning Joel.
Declaring out loud their desire to rest Embiid during the regular season, in particular by sparing him the back-to-backs, the Sixers took a fine of 100,000 dollars from the NBA, which did not really like the ways of the frankness of communicating publicly about Joel’s state of health. Then, it was Embiid himself who was sanctioned by the League with a three-game suspension, after shoving a journalist in the Sixers locker room. The journalist in question had dared to mention Jojo’s (deceased) brother and son to criticize him for missing too many matches. Joel – unsurprisingly – didn’t like it at all.
Joel Embiid’s suspension is over. He is set to make his season debut tuesday night vs the New York Knicks in the first game of the NBA Cup.
Demon is home. pic.twitter.com/ue1X1wnoIu
— J🐐 (@SixersJustin) November 11, 2024
It is therefore after all these episodes that Joel Embiid will finally return to the floor this Tuesday against the Knicks.
We imagine that the star pivot of the Sixers will be on a minutes restriction for his comeback, given that he still had a truncated preparation after participating in the Olympics this summer. However, this is the first time we will see him with Paul George in a Sixers jersey. We’ll have to wait a little longer to see the full association with Tyrese Maxey, but two members of the Big Three out of three isn’t bad.
“Of course, we won’t be able to get where we want to go without our giant. Someone that talented, obviously, is the missing piece.” – Paul Georgeon Embiid’s return
Come on, we’ll meet at 1:30 in the morning, near Philadelphia, to see Joel at work. We waited far too long to miss this…
