Joel Embiid has been named as an All-Star starter for the fourth consecutive season, the NBA announced on Thursday evening, as Philadelphia's franchise center continues to build his case for the 2020-21 NBA MVP award.
Embiid is joined in the starting lineup by a strong group of Eastern Conference contemporaries: Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bradley Beal, and Kyrie Irving, while the Western Conference will be represented by LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry, and Luka Doncic. Durant and James will be the captains for the two respective teams during a draft that will be televised at a later date.
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This was basically a foregone conclusion for Embiid, who has been the best player on the Eastern Conference's best team during the early stages of the year, taking his offensive game to new heights in his first season under Doc Rivers. Embiid is in the midst of his best, most efficient season to date, using a blend of power and finesse rarely seen in a man of his size, particularly in today's downsized NBA.
(Whether or not he should be joined on the All-Star team by one of his teammates is a story for another time. Tobias Harris has built a strong case, and Ben Simmons has come on as of late, but both lagged behind in fan voting. The coaches vote for reserves and they each have a decent shot at it, though I wouldn't bet my life on either guy.)
All of that being said, and with it being a great honor to start the All-Star Game in any year, there's a strong case to be made that Embiid should sit out the midseason event to get some needed time off before Philadelphia's second-half push for the Eastern Conference crown.
Since taking a hard fall after a push from LeBron James during their meeting in late January, Embiid has dealt with intermittent back tightness, his most recent flare up showing up in Wednesday's win over Houston. Embiid was visibly stiff heading into the locker room at halftime, and though he was able to rally in the second half without approaching full speed, Embiid and his head coach admitted after the win that he was fighting through a bit of pain to be able to play.
Back injuries are notoriously tricky, flaring up when you least expect them and sometimes due to the slightest of movements, and this is a season where dealing with those sorts of injuries is harder than ever. Teams are playing basically every other day this year, sending guys right back into the mix as soon as they've recovered even a little bit. Even though Embiid is taking his wellness more seriously away from the court, from training to diet to general maintenance, there's only so much you can do with limited time to rest. There's no substitute for time off to recover — there's a reason the age-old Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation acronym starts with rest (apart from it creating a word you can commit to memory).
Even in a normal year, the NBA frowns upon the idea of players sitting out the game if they're able to suit up, and they have ratcheted up penalties for teams should they decide to rest players for regular-season games. And the honor of being among the best in the sport isn't taken lightly, even for a lot of guys for whom it is an annual thing.
But this is not the usual All-Star Weekend, with several days of events and thousands of fans flocking to a city to see these guys up close and personal. The 2021 All-Star Game will be a (mostly) made-for-TV event. Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms released a statement this week urging fans from outside of the city not to travel there for the event, reminding them that there will be no NBA-sanctioned events that can be attended by the public. No one will be paying to see Embiid suit up, or anyone else for that matter.
Like many other players, Embiid has already expressed his reservation about participating in the March 7th event. The question was posed to him following a game in early February, shortly after LeBron James expressed his disinterest in the event, and Embiid wouldn't commit.
"We'll see. We got a long season," Embiid said on February 5th. "I missed a couple of games through that tightness from the fall against the Lakers. So, we'll see how I feel, if it's an issue or I'm not one-hundred percent. I'm focused on winning a championship and getting to the playoffs healthy. That's my main focus."
A couple of weeks later, Embiid is still grimacing on the court and mentioning the Lakers game as a source of pain. If you were asking me, that should make it an easy, "Thanks, but no thanks."
We should all probably know better with him by now. Embiid embraces the spotlight on the floor even if he keeps a low profile away from it, and challenging himself against top competition is something he typically loves, even in an exhibition setting. Last year's All-Star Game saw Embiid take over down the stretch for Team Giannis, with a star-studded cast deferring to him when it mattered most.
In all likelihood, Embiid could also have head coach Doc Rivers in charge of his team, a designation the coach would probably like to avoid but use to his advantage. Rivers could simply keep Embiid parked on the bench for most of the game if he chose to, allowing Embiid to jog around a little bit for the cameras before keeping him out of harm's way the rest of the night.
But considering Philadelphia's tough close to the first-half schedule — they play Indiana and Utah in their final two games pre-break, who both boast frontcourt talent — and the incentive to have Embiid in tip-top shape for the rest of the year, this is a no-brainer.
Stay in Philly, allow him to spend time with his young family, and do whatever you can to facilitate recovery during the biggest window you'll have to rest him before the playoffs.
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