Death, Taxes, and Joel Embiid Injuries
An interview with a Sixers fan on Philadelphia's playoff hopes, the state of the franchise, and bad luck in basketball
As the great philosopher Beyonce once said, “I’ll be your sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare.” She, of course, was referring to the experience of rooting for the Philadelphia 76ers. Basketball is built on hope, and the Sixers offer plenty of it. But for every step forward this team takes, they always seem to take two steps back.
Being a Sixers fan is a roller coaster of emotions. It’s like getting excited for a snow day as a kid, only for the next day to be 60 degrees and raining. It’s like when magicians perform that trick where they try to pull a tablecloth out from under a bunch of dishes, but all of the dishes come crashing down. It literally feels like this:
Sixers fandom is a shot and chaser of hope and despair taken over and over until you can barely stand. The potential is intoxicating. When Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Paul George, and V.J. Edgecombe are at their best, it’s like staring at the Mona Lisa. A work of art that’s meant to be admired and savored. What’s worse is that potential never feels too far away. What could be feels endlessly closer than what actually is.
As a franchise that may or may not be cursed by the spirit of Bryan Colangelo, this Sixers season has felt like many others. A combination of high hopes and bad fortune. In 2025-26, they dealt with a slew of Joel Embiid injuries, a 25-game suspension for Paul George, and trading away a promising young player for pennies. They’ve also seen a magnificent season from Tyrese Maxey, Paul George return to form, Joel Embiid look dominant on one leg, and a promising start to the career of rookie phenom V.J. Edgecombe. Still, entering the playoffs, the Sixers have a lot of questions to answer.
So to answer those questions, I interviewed my buddy Sean, one of my best friends and one of the biggest Sixers fans I know. Unfortunately for us, an hour before we were scheduled to talk, Shams reported that Joel Embiid is getting an emergency appendectomy shortly before the Sixers were scheduled to play Houston (a game they ended up losing).
In years past, Embiid has been allergic to staying healthy for the playoffs. Add this to the list of playoff (or pre-playoff) injuries for Joel, including a broken face, a knee injury, and a sudden bout of Bell’s Palsy, just to name a few. Once again, the Sixers will be without their centerpiece as we enter the postseason.
So to get ready for the playoffs (and process our shared basketball trauma), Sean and I talk about the Joel news, the Sixers playoff chances, Maxey’s next step, and why you can’t trust Daryl Morey.
An hour before this conversation, we got a Shams tweet. You remember how Woj had like a ‘Woj bomb?” What would you call a Shams news drop? A Sha-blam?
SEAN: Oh, that’s a good one. What would I call his alerts? This one was a kick in the face. I don’t think we can use it for all of them, but this last one felt like a kick in the face.
An hour before we had this conversation that we had planned, Shams tweeted that Joel Embiid has appendicitis and is getting surgery in Houston this afternoon. So he’ll be out for a few weeks, including the first round of the playoffs. How are you feeling?
SEAN: So I think if I had to describe myself as…if there’s Sixers fans archetypes, based on me and like the people that I know and talk to a lot about the Sixers, I feel like there’s a few archetypes. I think I fall into the one that’s a realist, maybe cautiously optimistic. So at times I can be very critical of the Sixers, but I still get caught up in just being a fan. I can ignore the facts of the situation at times just because I want to see the Sixers do well. So that being said, how I was feeling coming into this part of the season was getting excited again. They were pulling me back in. Paul George is back from his suspension. He’s been playing well.
I feel like he’s moving really well.
SEAN: I went with the fam and we saw the Detroit game live. That was my first time seeing Paul George play in person. And I love going to the games in person cause like, you get to understand the feel of a player’s game and what they look like a little differently.
And I agree, he was moving so well and getting to his spots, taking his time. He looks so strong, like a veteran, you know what I mean? Like, he may not have the same step that he used to, but he’s using his body to like create space and get the shot off that he wants. He looked really good, yeah. So I was really excited, even though we lost that game. I’ve still been excited, yeah. Just about the way he’d been playing.
But sorry, your question. What was your question?
How are you feeling right now?
SEAN: Real dejected. I was excited for the playoffs. Now, not so much.
How do you feel about their playoff chances?
SEAN: Okay, this is really pessimistic. And part of this is me as a fan, I like to prepare myself mentally for the worst in hopes that the team does better and proves me wrong. Whenever I criticize the Sixers, there’s nothing more that I want than to be proven wrong.
That being said, I feel as though we’ll be lucky to make it out of the play-in. And I feel as though we will be even luckier to win a first-round matchup against, you know, depending on where we land, Detroit, Boston, or New York. Even Cleveland, I would feel a little shaky against. But either way, I don’t feel great.
Without Embiid, do you think the Sixers can make it out of the play-in? Which of those potential play-in opponents scares you the most?
SEAN: Without Joel, I do think they can make it out of the play-in. It’s gonna be more difficult, obviously. That goes without saying, but I think they can still do it. The teams that scare me the most, I’m torn between Charlotte and Miami, only because Miami, they’re always good, right? They’re well-coached. That team’s been together for a while, like that core, so they know how to play together. The Hornets are scary, just because of the tear they’ve been on. They’ve been one of the best teams in the past several weeks in the league, like when it comes to just all the advanced stats. They’re probably my favorite team to watch at the moment.
What’s the reason for that?
SEAN: They look like they’re having so much fun. Really meshing and playing well. They trust each other. They’re just a fun team. You can tell that they’re really enjoying playing together.
They share the ball. LaMelo is obviously just like, it’s like he’s playing pickup basketball the way that he’s, the stuff he’s doing. Kon Knueppel. Like he’s playing with no fear. He doesn’t play like a rookie. But yeah, they’re just like a young, exciting team.
One of the things that I was thinking about is how the most devastating part about the Sixers is how endlessly close they are to reaching their potential. If this team were fully healthy, how far do you think that they could go?
SEAN: Yeah. That’s like the life of a Sixers fan. I think fully healthy (which we say this every year), but a fully healthy Sixers team could come out of the East. I mean, they’re obviously there from a talent standpoint. Joel, PG, Tyrese. I think having them as your three, or just on paper alone, that just makes us one of the better teams just off the strength of having them on the team.
I think having Paul George as a third option, where the expectation isn’t on him to have to come in and deliver a type of superstar performance. Like, he could just be Paul George. I think that also makes them really dangerous because he struggled in the playoffs, probably since he left the Pacers, when there’s a lot of pressure on him. In this scenario, he’s a third option. So I think that really helps him.
And then depth-wise, this is the deepest team since some of those Ben Simmons teams that we’ve seen in a while. When I look at our bench, or even that 6th, 7th guy. You’ve got V.J., who’s playing really well, not just for rookie, but in general. Kelly Oubre’s been playing so well. Quentin Grimes, like my man’s trying to get a contract. This dude is hooping. And then I do like Barlow, I like Edwards, I like all of them. But I think we just got a really nice deep team with guys that know how to play their role, and they play hard and can impact the game.
Do you think that depth could carry them through the last two games of the season and out of the play-in?
SEAN: Yeah, I definitely do. The Sixers have a tendency to drop those games that should be easy wins for them. So I don’t think Indiana or Milwaukee are going to be cakewalks, just because that’s just what the Sixers do, you know?
I had to look it up because the feeling I’ve had this season is like every Sixers game feels stressful, you know? There’s been few instances when I’ve watched a game this season where it’s been like a comfortable win, or I feel comfortable throughout the entire game, like, oh, we got it. And I was just looking at the standings for the play-in stuff. And the Sixers not only have the lowest differential of teams with winning records, but they’re the only team with a negative differential.
Why is that?
SEAN: I don’t know what it is against good teams, bad teams. It just feels like it doesn’t matter. It’s always close. They’ve had some exciting wins against good teams, but then, you know, they’ll turn around, and we’ll be barely beating Portland or something like that.
What does that say about Nick Nurse?
SEAN: Overall, I do like Nick Nurse. I think he’s a good coach. Thinking about this season, it is hard for me to give a really fair assessment of him and the coaching staff, just because availability for the roster has been so up and down.
Like Embiid, obviously, I mean, he’s always hurt. So you’re dealing with Embiid and his injuries. PG got that suspension. Tyrese was out for a little bit with his recent injury. So I think all that considered for the team to still be, you know, six games above 500, like that’s, I think that’s pretty good, honestly.
I think Doc Rivers, in the same scenario, would not have been able to get this.
Can we also do a quick sidebar on how you feel about Doc Rivers being in the Hall of Fame?
SEAN: Wait, excuse me? No, he’s not...
Bro, you didn’t see this?
SEAN: He was? How? Okay, what? That’s crazy, bro. I can see him getting into the Hall of Fame, but maybe like later. Bill Belichick didn’t make it into the Hall of Fame this year, but Doc Rivers did. That’s crazy.
Anyway, you were saying, Doc Rivers in the same situation…
SEAN: Yeah, just only because he was the last coach. Yes, I think Nick Nurse is the best coach we’ve had in a while. And I wouldn’t wanna mess that up unless somebody stellar came along.
What’s the temperature check on Daryl Morey?
SEAN: On Daryl Morey? If your goal is to sell tickets and make money for your franchise, I think he’s great. He can bring in stars. He’s not afraid to pull that trigger and bring in big names that are gonna be good for revenue for a team.
But if you want to build a winning team that has a strong future outlook and a plan beyond just one or two guys, I haven’t seen that from Daryl Morey. Maybe I’m wrong. I just haven’t seen him as that type of GM.
That’s real.
SEAN: Yeah. So I don’t like Daryl Morey. I would like to see him gone, honestly. Come on, bro. What are we doing? You’re extending Joel. When we already know his injury history, you’re giving my man a fat extension.
You’re bringing in aging all-stars that have not proven to be able to like…I love Paul George’s game. I get he’s your favorite player’s favorite player. Obviously he’s great at basketball. But my man hasn’t shown the ability to deliver when it’s needed most. And you’re like, I already have an aging, injury-prone superstar. Let me bring in another one.
That begs the question: What do you think about the McCain trade in hindsight?
SEAN: I think I’m in the minority of Sixers fans where I think he is a good player and he’s gonna have a good career and do really well. A lot of other fans I talk to, they didn’t feel so bad about him getting traded. But for the most part, we all agree that what we got in return was not sufficient.
So even if you don’t agree that McCain was gonna turn into a great player, I think most people agree that Daryl Morey didn’t get that great a return for him. It was a bad trade. It was a weird time to sell.
Like, if you got a guy that you know you wanna move on from, like, why not try to boost his value before moving him? Jared was just coming back from injury. Like, if you wanna move him, at least give him a little more free rein to perform and get his numbers up so you can get more back.
If you’re Daryl Morey and you’re trying to sell high on this guy and Nick Nurse isn’t playing him as much as he should, you have to say, “get my guy some minutes. Let’s get his value up.”
SEAN: Facts, facts. And when he came out, and he finally spoke about it, it didn’t add up. He said their strategy for trading Jared was to get some pieces so that they could then flip that and turn it into a deal that would add talent now to the team, like talent that they could use. I don’t know what talent other than Jared McCain, but I guess, you know, he wanted to take those picks and flip them into something else. And with NBA trades, I haven’t seen it work like that. Typically, if a front office knows that they’re trading one guy in order to complete a large trade, they do it all at once, or they don’t make a move until they know that that other trade has materialized.
His excuse just made no sense. To still say that you traded Jared McCain to get those assets and then, you know, whatever deal you wanted didn’t materialize. It’s like, this should have been contingent. And if that wasn’t there, then you don’t move Jared McCain.
Which, again, Daryl Morey, like in long-term outlook, I don’t even know if he cares to plan beyond his tenure.
Daryl Morey is a liar. That’s what James Harden said.
SEAN: (Laughs) Look, I’m starting to believe James. Daryl Morey, man, compared to, in terms of like his ability and what type of GM you want, right? Sam Presti is probably one of the best GMs in the league.
If Sam Presti, coming off a championship, can look at Jared McCain and see value in him and his talent, and find minutes for him in his rotation, the fact that Daryl Morey says that we sold high and Jared wasn’t a fit for THIS Sixers team that we’re talking about may not be able to make it out of the play-in.
Like that gap in the assessment of McCain’s talent between these two, I’m going to take Sam Presti. And the last thing I’ll say on this, too is a lot of people were saying we don’t need Jared McCain. We already have too many options in the backcourt. Then why did we bring in Cameron Payne? After getting rid of Jared McCain.
And who’s better, Cameron Payne or Jared McCain? Like, what are we talking about? Like, who would you rather have right now, bro?
I wonder if anybody out there is arguing Cam Payne over Jared McCain.
SEAN: It’s Daryl Morey. He’s the guy.
V.J. Edgecombe is third in Rookie of the Year odds. How do you feel about his first season? And do you see him as a major contributor going into the playoffs?
SEAN: V.J. has been the best and most enjoyable part of the Sixers season as a fan. Hands down. He’s been like the clear bright spot.
I wasn’t expecting him to be this good. I was really high on V.J. just after he got drafted, learning about him and seeing, you know, I started my YouTube timeline, started getting filled with like his pre-season workout videos. Like just seeing his drive and his competitiveness and hearing him speak.
He just seems like he’s got a good head and shoulders. And he’s like the type of dude that you want on your team. He’s really mature. So, V.J., man, I hope he’s the Sixer forever. And I hope he likes it here, and I hope Philly fans treat him right.
In terms of him contributing in the playoffs, I think we’re gonna need him to show up big in the play-in, but I’m not so naive as not to recognize that he is a rookie. So I think that’s not fair to him or any rookie going into your playoffs to expect him to have to play big.
NBA playoff basketball is different, man. It’s crazy. The next level that these guys take and the way they elevate their game in the playoffs. Obviously, I would love to see V.J. have a great playoff run. I just don’t expect it because he is a rookie, and that level of play, it shifts to another gear.
And I don’t think that would be fair to even have to put that much pressure on him. And we shouldn’t be. So I think if his performance could be the icing on the cake, that’s what I would expect. It’s like the cherry on the top, but I would still expect Tyrese, you know, Joel, if we make it into the playoffs and he’s healthy. And PG, even other guys like Kelly Oubre, right?
Whereas V.J., the message to him should be like, be comfortable, play confidently, fill in where you can, but like, we’re not expecting him to come out here and drop 25 points.
He’s one of those players that just moves different. He’s so athletic.
SEAN: It’s insane. When he jumps, dude, it’s like, it just looks like he’s in the air a little bit longer than like you would expect a person to be. In terms of like his build and athleticism, it’s probably since like Allen Iverson, since there’s been a player like this. Like the way he’s moving, or if he just looks, he looks a little extra, like more athletic, a little degree of athleticism, a little bit higher than like the rest of everybody else on the court. The way that he can just like get in the air, it looks like it’s defying just physics at times. V.J. is so good, bro. I’m such a V.J. fan.
In Joel’s absence, who will have to step up if the Sixers are to make a run?
SEAN: It’s gotta be Tyrese. I know that’s the obvious answer, but I think he’s made the leap. It just seems like every year he’s getting better and better, but I think this is the year where he’s made that leap. Where he’s the type of player who knows how to win a game, which I think is hard. That’s a common trajectory. Guys come in, they’re talented. They get their numbers. They’re good NBA players. And then around 3 or 4, maybe year 5, there’s a certain point where they figure out how to win an NBA game, which I think is a skill that the top players have. Instead of just going out and scoring a whole bunch of buckets, they know how to win a game in the NBA. And I think Tyrese has that ability now.
He’s been really fast, blows by everybody, gets buckets. His shots are getting better. All that stuff. But now I think he has that poise. He just knows how to manage a game and can win a game for us.
And that’s just like a feel for the game, you think?
SEAN: Yeah, yeah. It’s like he’s the clear leader on the team.
Last year, he was emerging as the leader, but as a person just watching, it was never clear who actually was “the guy.” But now, when you watch the Sixers, it’s clear, it’s Maxey. Like this is his team. And I think it’s just his poise in those moments.
This season, he’s had some big crunch-time plays for us. And like his level of play down the stretch, he just looks comfortable. Like he’s arrived in my mind, he’s that guy.
I think Kelly and PG, them playing well, it’s gonna be huge. But Tyrese, man, it’s the obvious answer.
Okay. I wanna give you a little space to talk about Joel Embiid.
SEAN: Man, in general, I appreciate Joel Embiid and his career. As a fan, whenever his career is over, I’m gonna look back on it and be thankful as a Sixers fan that we had Joel Embiid. I think he’s gonna go down as one of the greatest bigs. I don’t know where he lands on that list. I don’t really care, but I think either, when you talk about bigs, I think he’s always gonna come up because he was just magnificent.
Like I’ve had some of my most fun watching, it wasn’t until like between Allen Iverson and Joel Embiid, like in between, I just, I didn’t have as many moments, you know, like watching the Sixers, where it was just so much fun to just be a fan and watch those games. And Joel brought so much joy back to me as a Sixers fan, personally, and like the rest of the fan base. So yeah, overall, thankful, appreciative that we got to have Joel play for our organization.
I’m just, I’m thankful as well as a fan, but I do, from a realist standpoint, if he’s not healthy and he’s still getting paid, the Sixers are kind of held hostage by him. Because of Daryl Morey, bro.
Because of Daryl fucking Morey.
It all comes back to Daryl, bro.