The Philadelphia 76ers started the season with a 117-116 win over the Boston Celtics despite Paul George and Jared McCain not playing. Tyrese Maxey erupted for 40 points. Rookie VJ Edgecombe added a cool 34 for the highest scoring output in an NBA debut since Wilt Chamberlain in 1959.
This is the good news.
76ers’ VJ Edgecombe breaks records held by LeBron James, Allen Iverson in incredible NBA debut vs. Celtics
Cameron Salerno
The bad news, if you’re a Sixers fan or anyone inside that organization, is Joel Embiid looked positively cooked. He scored four points on 1-of-9 shooting. He was a game-worst minus-16 in 20 painful minutes. More alarming than his inability to do much of anything offensively was the fact that he appeared physically incapable of even basic movements or any kind of jumping on the defensive end.
To say there is no lift in those legs would be an understatement. He couldn’t get over a phone book. After Xavier Tillman snuffed out Embiid’s slow-motion shot in that final slip, he proceeded to run the floor for a layup on the other end as Embiid jogged helplessly behind.
Meanwhile, Sixers coach Nick Nurse was busy trying to get ahead of the story by painting a downright positive picture of Embiid’s performance.
“Well, I’m super happy he was out there,” Nurse said. “I think that he played good. I know that’s going to sound silly, 1 for 9 [shooting]. He just didn’t shoot it very good. I thought he transferred the ball good. I thought he made some good decisions. Thought he took good shots. I thought he protected the rim. So again, that’s like, he hasn’t done much, right? He’s kind of played a scrimmage and a preseason game, and I think there’s some rust there. But I thought he was moving good and made good decisions, which is really positive.”
For the record, Embiid was the league’s MVP and scoring champion three years ago. If your standard for “good” play from a player of that caliber is to “transfer” the ball and make some good decisions, you’re in denial. It’s not that the rust thing isn’t real. The guy probably hardly played basketball over the last eight months. But that’s sort of the problem, isn’t it?
Embiid managed to play just 19 games last season and 39 games the year before that. He’s had four surgeries on the same left meniscus, a portion of which was removed in February of 2024, with the most recent being this past April. He’s also had three foot surgeries. He’s a massive human being — 7-foot and nearly 300 pounds. It’s not a matter of if the knees and feet of a man that size, who’s had that many surgeries, are going to give out. It’s only a matter of when.
Let’s hope that time hasn’t fully arrived for Embiid, but if it hasn’t, it sure looks like it’s getting close.