Though the official dates have not yet been announced, training camp is less than three weeks away for the Philadelphia 76ers. Among the many offseason storylines surrounding the team, one has been larger than any other: the health status of Joel Embiid. Finally, we have our first breadcrumb of an answer.
As the Sixers tend to do, the team waited until Philadelphia was abuzz with another storyline—the 50th home run of the season by Kyle Schwarber—to release the first footage of Embiid in the gym since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last April.
In a thread on X, the team posted photos and videos of several players working out on the court. Among these players was Joel Embiid, of whom the team posted a five-second clip. Surely, not much can stand out in a five-second clip.
However, Airplane jokes aside, something instantly caught the eye of those in the Sixersverse: the absence of any type of brace, pad, sleeve or even tape on Embiid's left knee.
https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1965582947131727934
In the clip, Embiid makes his signature motion in the post before rising for an elbow jumper. Does this signify that he's back and ready to dominate the court?
No, but it certainly provides a morsel of hope to the Sixers fanbase, who were otherwise left to their own imaginations, which surely results in anything but positive thinking, and understandably so.
The former MVP was shut down back in February of last season before his surgery. After tearing his meniscus during the 2023-24 season, Embiid quickly returned to action for a gutsy postseason performance that saw him play with several other ailments, including his recovering knee.
Embiid would attempt to play the following season but would not make his season debut until the second week of November as he continued to struggle against the Sixers' mortal enemy, the dreaded ramp-up.
Despite multiple efforts, including periods of rest and receiving multiple injections, Embiid played just 19 sporadic games throughout the season and looked nothing like the former MVP who once could be called one of the greatest on the planet.
The question that all were left with was, "Is this it?"
Embiid's surgery, a procedure he insisted on that the Sixers, with equal passion, insisted was not the solution—firmly believing he would adjust to the pain and difference as he played on his knee—is no guarantee of a return to his former greatness, but the seven-time All-Star was surely confident it was his best option.
After an offseason of nearly complete silence, Sixers fans have their first taste of hope when it comes to Embiid. It will certainly be fleeting, especially when the first announcement of Embiid missing time eventually comes, be it his absence from a preseason game, back-to-back, or otherwise, but it provides hope for today, which is more than fans have expected as of late, and if you ask me, that matters.
