Paul George, Joel Embiid playing through injuries a symptom of larger problem for Sixers

Joel Embiid and Paul George’s injuries derailed the Sixers’ season before it even started. The handling of those injuries only adds to the misery.

Does anyone else feel like they’re going insane following this team?

The Philadelphia 76ers love to make decisions that each seem somehow more puzzling than the last. The choice to allow Paul George to play in recent games as he continues to nurse tendon damage in his pinky is yet another on the list.

And with new reports from ESPN’s Shams Charania about the lengths George is going to to play in these contests, it all becomes even more questionable.

“I’m told it is to the point where [George] has gotten injections to play and compete over the last four or five games. That’s something players do come playoff time, not necessarily in the regular season.”

(Can’t believe Shams is implying that a February back-to-back right before the All-Star break isn’t as important as the playoffs…)

Now, let’s consider something important for a moment: information in professional sports is very typically leaked like this by someone for a reason. We don’t exactly know where the information is coming from in this case, so speculating on exact motive would be difficult. For the sake of the rest of the article, let’s put aside who leaked the information and focus more on the information itself regarding George’s injury and him playing through it.

In the Sixers’ Wednesday night loss to the Brooklyn Nets, George scored just two points. It’s been visibly obvious that he is bothered by and constantly fiddling with the splint on the pinky. Postgame, George showed the press what he is dealing with, physically displaying his inability to move his left pinky. When asked by PhillyVoice’s Adam Aaronson if he anticipates playing with the splint and injury getting easier, his answer did not inspire much confidence.

“I mean, it is what it is,” George answered. “I’m going to have to always play like this [displays inability to move left pinky]. We’ve just got to work around it. You know, hopefully the splint gets smaller and smaller and the pinky has a little bit more range and mobility in it as opposed to just being in the air all game.”

Where do you even start with this? What does George mean he will “always” have to play like this? How bad is this injury that he is cleared to play in games, but is only hopeful that the splint gets smaller and mobility to the pinky gets better?

Wish I had the answers for you. With this team, it seems we never do.

Let’s focus on the most obvious question to all of this: Why? Why would George take playoff-level measures to play a random back-to-back in February, right before the All-Star break, for a Sixers’ team that does not have much of a prayer of competing in the playoffs even if they somehow squeak in?

George has been back on the court the last five games after missing five due to the injured pinky. The nine-time NBA All-Star has averaged just 10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists in that time despite playing 32.7 minutes per night. His defense has been good, but not game-defining enough to justify him forcing playing below 100% — especially not if it means he’s only able to score two points because he can’t physically shoot or dribble a basketball.

It simply does not make any sense, and it all comes back to the same questions with this organization: who is making the decisions and what could possibly be the logic behind them, especially when it comes to injuries?

If the Sixers are letting the players decide whether they can force themselves to play, regardless of the limitations of their injury, then that’s a major problem in itself. There’s a reason that things like a player being sent for concussion testing is not left up to the player. These guys are going to play if they are allowed to — sometimes at the expense of their own bodies or, honestly, at the cost of the team’s success. Professional athletes are adults and deserve some autonomy, of course, but they cannot be the ones to decide that they’re healthy enough to play at a top level when all evidence and medical testing points to the contrary. They’re competitors, they want to compete even if all logic says it’s a bad idea short-term and/or long-term. That’s why it can’t just be up to them.

If it’s the medical team making the decisions, then there is an even larger issue that raises even bigger questions about why they think it’s a worthy risk to have George play these relatively meaningless games in a lost season rather than have him recover and hopefully be able to perform in the next three years on his contract with the Sixers. That, or why they may be letting a player’s desire to play affect their medical assessment of that player’s healthiness and ultimately their availability to play in games.

That’s just the thing, though. We have no idea who is making the decisions or why they insist on keeping basic injury information under nuclear code level secrecy. In isolation, this might not raise many eyebrows. Of course teams do not have to explain their every move to the public. If you know the Sixers’ recent history, however, you know it’s not in isolation. The puzzling decisions paired with a complete lack of transparency are nothing new with this organization and it’s quickly pushing fans (those that are left) away.

Look at the situation of Joel Embiid as well. We’ll just stick to the most recent scenario, though there’s probably a number of questions that could be asked about his injury handling over the last decade. This season began in a cloud of confusion surrounding Embiid because of mixed messaging regarding his health and whether or not he was/would be physically ready to play at the start of the campaign.

That was four months ago. Do you feel like you know any more about the short-term or long-term health of Embiid’s knee now? I certainly don’t.

Since then, he has played in just 17 games this season, spread out sporadically across the Sixers’ 54, as he continues to manage the recovery from meniscus surgery done to his left knee nearly a year ago. The entire rollercoaster of a season of him playing, not playing, playing again, etc. has been filled with questions on whether having Embiid play on the knee now is worth it vs. shutting him down to heal this season and allowing him to get back to the best level of strength possible. Instead, Embiid has ended up somewhere between both options. He has played in random games here and there before having to be sidelined again for swelling and other symptoms from the knee. The most games in a row he’s been available for this season? Four, and that was two months ago. He hasn’t looked like he’s been able to jump well all year and who knows what further damage is being done having him play these meaningless games instead of resting?

None of this is even focusing on the context of the situations as well, which makes the entire scenario even more egregious. This is a 20-34 team where the only bright spots of the season have come from the younger or newer guys. Their best games have come with neither of their injured league vet stars on the floor — imagine that! Why is the team forcing or allowing two aging stars to play meaningless, sub-100% healthy minutes this season when they are both under contract the next few seasons? Let Tyrese Maxey get more playing time with guys like the rookies or the new additions for now! Develop the youth of the team while Embiid and George can actually heal the rest of this lackluster season!

Between the George revelation and Embiid casually discussing the possibility of another knee surgery in his future, I feel like I am going insane asking the same simple questions over and over again: who is making these decisions and why the hell are they making them?

It gets more frustrating every single day to care about this team.

Hey, at least the All-Star break is here.