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Adam Schein: The Sixers Will Never Win With Joel Embiid
Paul George and Joel Embiid will be unavailable for the Philadelphia 76ers' season opener on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. It's an inauspicious start for a franchise that trusted a process and is still waiting for significant results on that patience. George and Embiid figure to be two of the best players on the court, the problem is that seeing them out there together will be a rare treat— especially since playing back-to-back games is out of the question at this stage of Embiid's career.
"This is why I can't take the Philadelphia 76ers seriously," he said. "The Process wasn't real. The Process was a joke. The Process was just kicking it down the road and allowing losing to be accepted in Philadelphia."
"The Philadelphia 76ers will never win with Joel Embiid," Schein continued. "What's the injury for Embiid and why did he play for Team USA? This is a complete and utter absurd mess."
And so it begins. Embiid, PG out for season opener. Why did Embiid play for Team USA? Why isn’t he gonna play back to backs? And “the process” was fake and allowed losing to be accepted. Take under on Sixers wins. Can’t win title with Embiid. Feel for Philly fans. @VSiNLive pic.twitter.com/fAzNcLWN3Q
— Adam Schein (@AdamSchein) October 23, 2024
That is certainly not a proprietary take but it does land with some real impact on Opening Day. And then there's the knowledge that nothing the Sixers do in the regular season will really mean anything because they are on the perennial "prove it in the playoffs" plan. It might be best if Philadelphia fans reconsider their national media habits for mental health reasons because it's going to be a long several months.
On the other hand, if the Sixers and Embiid can finally break through, they'll be able to put together hours upon hours of tape from pundits who said they could never do it.
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Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.