Joel Embiid lashes out on ‘bullshit’ criticism over his injury absence this season

Joel Embiid’s patience is starting to fade as critics are getting on his nerve. The player is yet to make his 2024-25 season debut while the Sixers are managing his recovery from his left knee, and he’s been calling out of the media for suggesting he doesn’t want to compete or is too delicate to want to expose himself to the league’s intensity. 

Last weekend he attended the press and made sure everyone around knew how much he’s sacrificed for this franchise. “I’ve broken my face twice. I came back early with the risk of losing my vision,” he told reporters on Friday.

“…When I see people saying, he doesn’t want to play, I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that. I do think it’s bulls–t … I’ve done way too much for this f–king city to be treated like this,” Embiid assured.

Unfortunately for Joel, some of the most important analysts in the media like Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have legitimized the criticism against the 2022-23 league MVP. However, Embiid has his eyes set on Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes, who called him “the least-dependable superstar in the history of the game.”

However, the big man is close to his return, as he took part in five-on-five scrimmages this past week and might just be ready for action in the upcoming matches. He recently said that his return to the court will count on “trusting” his right knee, but anticipates he’ll be playing “pretty soon.”

“I think it’s about being comfortable, trusting it,” the Philly star said. “I want to be at my best. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m afraid if I do this, I might do something…Mentally I’m just dealing with getting that trust back.”

The league is currently investigating an alleged Joel Embiid incident with reporter inside the Sixers’ locker room

The NBA has been investigating an alleged incident that occurred in the team’s locker room with reporter Marcus Hayes, as Embiid had been fuming over something he wrote in an article during preseason. According to sources, it mentioned Embiid’s late younger brother and his own son.

“Joel Embiid consistently points to the birth of his son, Arthur, as the major inflection point in his basketball career,” Hayes wrote. “He often says that he wants to be great to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother, who tragically died in an automobile accident when Embiid was in his first year as a 76er. Well, in order to be great at your job, you first have to show up for work. Embiid has been great at just the opposite.”

According to ESPN, the Sixers center walked toward the reporter in the locker room after Saturday’s 124-107 defeat to Memphis. He then allegedly told the columnist that “you are going to see what I’m going to do to you” if he ever referenced his brother or son again.

The truth is, Joel has endured a frustrating career so far, after being drafted with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, he then missed out on his first two campaigns with injuries. Since then, the superstar has competed in only 433 of a possible 805 regular season games.