It is October, which means basketball season calls. Last season was needed, in a way.  A reset after seven demoralizing playoff exits in a row. 

After a sluggish beginning, the embarrassment lingered, even through some shining moments. There was Jared McCain’s performance against Cleveland. Christmas Day in Boston. Tyrese Maxey’s January. Everything else, sans some Quentin Grimes heaters, was bad and ugly. 

Ricky Council IV played the fifth most minutes. 

A dissociation from fandom. Sure, I watched, but I didn’t have to care. 

The roster is now set after Grimes accepted his qualifying offer. They are younger and more athletic. V.J. Edgecombe will be a breath of fresh air. McCain and Maxey are straight-up awesome. Trendon Watford should make an impact once he’s healthy. Adem Bona blocked a ton of shots last year. His international experience this summer should translate. Dominick Barlow may start and can actually grab some offensive rebounds. Justin Edwards could be something. There is a chance for Jabari Walker to make an impact. They still employ Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry, but it would be a sorry affair if either has to play heavy minutes. Kelly Oubre as your sixth or seventh most important player is a lot more tolerable than your third. Maybe Andre Drummond can make a layup. 

If history didn’t exist, you may talk yourself into it. 

I won’t go there. It would be silly to write such a thing. Despite Tyler Herro’s assertion, history exists. Paul George is 35, and might not play opening night. And then there is Joel Embiid. 

Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been with only one franchise longer than Embiid, among active players. Now, you can argue, correctly, that nobody would trade for Embiid now, or even last year. He has, most likely, the worst contract in the NBA, because there is zero idea of how he bounces back from his troubling injury track record. All of that is true. But it doesn’t make it less cool than he remains a 76er. 

I know for a fact many wish they could move on from Embiid. They’re tired of him. They’re ready for the next chapter. The thing that gets people most excited about this year’s team isn’t the two highest paid players. 

It’s Edgecombe, McCain, Maxey, and even Grimes. 

But Embiid isn’t going anywhere. This is reality, so you may as well embrace him.

Over the summer, the most in-depth profile of Embiid appeared, somewhat randomly. Revealing and interesting, but often sad and filled with despair, a different light shined on Embiid. He has constantly been under a microscope. Fan bases lavish over his inability to play basketball games. They talk about his flopping. How he’s just not a fun player to watch. And his failures. “Gosh, did you know that Embiid has never made the conference finals?!?” 

Nine years ago this month, I went to Embiid’s debut. Talk about an electric atmosphere. Everything about that night remains vivid in my mind. The turnaround jumper to mark his first career bucket. That fall I went to a bunch of games, shouting “Trust the Process” whenever Embiid attempted a free throw. And then in the winter I moved away from home. It has been rare to see a game in person since then. My viewing happens through League Pass. Over time, fans have grown tired. It is understandable. Many point to Boston in 2023. Game 6. Fourth-quarter lead. When the Sixers needed Embiid, he didn’t deliver. Game 7 was obviously worse, but that wasn’t in front of fans. Many wiped their hands of the Sixers after that heartbreak. 

Then an incredible thing happened. Embiid was awesome again. He scored more points than minutes played during the 2023-24 season. Then reality snuck in like always. A dreaded night in San Francisco where Embiid should not have played. 

It has been Embiid’s career. The highest of highs sequenced with the lowest of lows. I mean his Game 3 performance against Toronto in 2019 followed by his illness of Game 4 personifies his career. It’s sad and bewildering. Zach Lowe mentioned several times that Embiid’s postseason triumph would come. How he is too talented of a player for it not to happen. This was during that season, the year after James Harden left. As he fought back from injury, only for his body to give up on him yet again. 

Then Embiid couldn’t get healthy. Now you can’t trust Embiid to even play through a regular season let alone a grueling postseason.

Whenever Lowe has uttered Embiid’s name this offseason, it’s been met with heavy pessimism.

I know I have to care about Embiid because it’s not like he can be traded. But I also want to care. 

There is a lot Embiid has done wrong. He’s had some miserable, back-breaking turnovers. His conditioning has been a stain. 

There is no signature postseason moment. Maybe it’s Game 5 against Boston that put Philadelphia in its best position to advance to the conference finals two and half years ago. Some of his best postseason games happened in April. 

Nobody cares what happens in April. 

That’s the point, though. Embiid couldn’t even have April last year. He was a shell of himself. Nobody should want that. 

This dude couldn’t miss from the midrange. The two-man game he had with Maxey was sensational. At his peak, he was an all-world defender.

I hope he plays on opening night. I hope he looks how he did against Serbia last August.

I hope.