The Philadelphia 76ers are committed to conserving Joel Embiid and Paul George as much as they possibly can for a hopeful deep postseason run. Which, as they should be. But after a troubling 1-2 start without their two best players, it seems head coach Nick Nurse might be getting a little fed up by the whole predicament.
On Tuesday, the 76ers released a statement that both Embiid and George would miss the team’s home matchup against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. They will apparently be reevaluated later this week, but there is no set debut date in the books yet. (Note: Philadelphia does not play again until Saturday.)
As one should expect, Nurse naturally fielded questions about the health of Embiid and George at a press conference after the statement. I should say that he took two questions before passive-aggressively cutting everyone off and changing the subject.
Uh, testy much?
After this Sixers’ statement was released, Nick Nurse took two questions regarding the absences of his stars before cutting off questions on the subject. Full video of that first minute of his presser: https://t.co/toyRXP212Y pic.twitter.com/N9WFqsMXXl
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 29, 2024
Look, I understand Nurse’s frustration about repeatedly having a conversation that hasn’t had a resolution for over a week now. There are few things I think people are more annoyed by than having to repeat themselves over and over. From this regard, the testiness is warranted.
At the same time, as the 76ers relatively struggle, any questions about George and Embiid likely missing almost the team’s first two weeks of the season are reasonable. This entire rebuilt Philadelphia core is centered around those two playing and playing at a high level — even if it’s less than you might expect during the regular season.
All anyone is asking for is more transparency about the status of two All-NBA-caliber superstars. Philadelphia’s fans deserve as much, even if they’ve bought into the idea of their team trying to be ready for mid-April first.
Nurse should really be more cognizant of that dynamic instead of offering up touchy responses like this.
