Chandler Parsons rips 76ers for handling of Joel Embiid injury: Youre now smoking next season

In the aftermath of 76ers superstar Joel Embiid getting shut down for the rest of the season, former NBA player Chandler Parsons wondered why that didn’t happen earlier in the year.Parsons, a former forward now working as an analyst on Fan Duel TV’s “Run It Back” show, said Friday that the impacts of Embiid’s lingering knee injury have been evident since the Olympics last summer, and he criticized Philadelphia — still technically alive for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference — for chasing this season as long as possible instead of ensuring that Embiid will be ready for the start of the 2025-26 campaign. “They knew about this injury,” Parson said.“Go watch Joel Embiid play in the Olympics this summer, which whether that was fair, unfair, selfish or whatever the reasons you want to call it, he wasn’t himself.

He wasn’t moving [like] himself.He wasn’t running.

He wasn’t explosive.This is nothing new.

So my frustration, my concern is, this isn’t something that was just going to naturally heal. “This required surgery since October.It’s probably frustrating, too, for the fan base because you’ll see some games where he does get going and he cooks and he’s dominant.

He looks like that MVP from two years ago.Just knowing what I know and what they know, it’s not getting better, and it can get worse.”Embiid, who won the league’s MVP award in 2022-23, played in just 19 games for the 76ers this season, collecting 23.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game — with his scoring average the lowest it has been since 2019-20.And this year, the knee injury overshadowed any of his game cameos, including at the start of the season when the NBA investigated the 76ers over their handling of the former No.

3 overall pick’s participation.Embiid was also benched during the fourth quarter of a game against the Nets last month, with head coach Nick Nurse telling reporters postgame that Embiid is “not himself” compared to the vers...