When the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Joel Embiid with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft they thought he would be on the same path as Nerlens Noel was when they drafted him. Noel sat out his rookie year as he recovered from a torn ACL and then played last season and played well. Embiid was expected to come back this season but he instead had surgery on his foot again and will sit out his second straight season. The 76ers knew the risks when they drafted him but they are reportedly not too happy about his attitude or his lax approach to rehabbing, according to Brian Geltzeiler of The Cauldron.
Embiid traveled with the team on a west coast road trip last season but head coach Brett Brown had to send him home because he was being insubordinate to the team's strength coach and training staff. At the time that was a pretty big story but what hadn't come out was the fact that Embiid actually physically threatened to hurt the strength coach during that trip.
That scenario is just one in a long list of issues the 76ers have had with Embiid since drafting him. Last season Embiid was reportedly refusing to answer questions from the training staff about his workouts and therapy sessions and this whole situation has caused a lot of anxiety within the organization. Sam Hinkie, the 76ers general manager responsible for drafting Embiid, has the backing of majority owner Josh Harris but some of the minority owners see the Embiid situation as the last straw for Hinkie.
Hinkie is also responsible for virtually making the team tank for high draft picks the past few years and trading Michael Carter-Williams the year after he won Rookie of the Year. The Embiid pick might be the biggest strike against him though because many teams had red-flagged him because of health but Hinkie still selected him anyway.
Aside from not talking to trainers about his progress Embiid also reportedly delayed his second surgery about a month this past summer to go party in Las Vegas during the NBA Summer League. Embiid was also told he needed to wear a walking boot during that time period but he did not and instead was running around and dunking as if nothing was wrong with his foot which led to speculation that he re-broke his foot as opposed to what the 76ers said, that it hadn't healed correctly. Embiid has also not stuck to the Sixers' dieting plan and they say he is eating extremely unhealthy so they are concerned that his conditioning will be a major issue if/when he comes back.
Embiid came out of college at Kansas and was seen as a talented young player who was a can't miss prospect. His talent is undeniable but what people clearly missed was the attitude issues that he has had since coming into the NBA. The 76ers now have Noel and Jahlil Okafor on the team as young centers who they plan to build around so who knows what is going to happen with Embiid in the future but this report sheds light on the fact that they are none too happy with the way he is rehabbing.
