October 29, 2024
Joel Embiid and Paul George are out tomorrow vs. Detroit, the Sixers said Tuesday afternoon. They participated in portions of practice today, and will be re-assessed later in the week.
In his second preseason contest back on Oct. 14, George suffered what was then called a left knee hyperextension, which was later diagnosed as a bone bruise.
Last week, the day before the Sixers began their regular season slate, the team said George was "recovering well" but would miss the season opener. Two days later, the team said George was "progressing well" and would be re-evaluated after the Sixers' two-game road trip, which concluded on Sunday afternoon against the Pacers.
George underwent a rigorous pregame workout before the Sixers nabbed their first victory of the season in Indianapolis:
Paul George is out today, but he’s going through a warmup before Pacers-76ers. Moving very well. pic.twitter.com/HV4ZSzRcyW
— Tony East (@TonyREast) October 27, 2024
While George's situation has been fairly standard -- a player suffered an in-game injury and has missed some time as a result -- the mystery surrounding Embiid has confused many.
First, Embiid was not scrimmaging in training camp, with the Sixers saying they were merely being proactive in managing the former NBA MVP's left knee, which caused him to miss most of the 2023-24 regular season. That turned into Embiid not participating in preseason games -- and, perhaps more ominously, still not scrimmaging during preseason practices.
On the eve of the season opener, the Sixers said Embiid would not play during games that week -- ruling him out through the Indiana game -- and he would be re-evaluated over the weekend.
"Embiid is responding well to his individualized plan sand is expected to ramp up his return to play activities this week, including scrimmaging," the team said last Tuesday.
Time and time again, the Sixers have maintained that Embiid has not suffered any injuries or setbacks to his knee. The team continues to claim it is merely being as cautious as it can and everything is going according to their plan. Of course, this begs the question: did their plan truly include Embiid missing at least the first three games of the season? It is not as if the date of their first game was up in the air.
Last week, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the NBA was expected to launch an investigation into Embiid's situation to ensure the Sixers were not violating the league's player participation policy, which is intended to prevent teams from resting healthy players for extended periods of time.
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