Joel Embiid famously has a long history of injuries and those injuries have prevented him from being all he can be for the Philadelphia 76ers franchise. Because of this, he's being load-managed this season as the Sixers hope against hope that he can be healthy for the playoffs. There's nothing new or unusual about the situation in today's NBA but because Embiid makes a ton of money and hasn't bought himself any credit by doing it when it matters, he's going to remain a punching bag for pundits.
Charles Barkley took his turn on Inside the NBA on Thursday night.
"We're not steel workers, we're not nurses... we're playing basketball, at the most, four days a week."
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 24, 2024
Embiid's load management isn't flying with Chuck 👀 pic.twitter.com/PC2HZd9HwK
"I want to get this number right because this is crazy," Barkley said. "And bless the kid, number one. He just signed on for three years, $193 million. To play basketball. We're not steelworkers. We're not nurses. People who got, like, real jobs who work 40-50 hours a week. We're playing basketball, at the most, four days a week."
Barkley is right about all of that. Joel Embiid plays professional basketball and does not work in a steel mill so his job is different than other jobs people have. A lot of people would say professional basketball player is a really good job. No argument there.
But just because other people exist doesn't have anything to do with Embiid's situation. Like ... at all. The reality is the situation is that a person over 7-foot tall, who has been injured a lot playing a physical game against the best athletes in the world is going to take some days off from on-court action. That's what he feels most comfortable doing and the Sixers seem to be on board so what does whatever is going on at the local nurse's station have to do with anything?
Embiid is such an easy target and no one likes load management but with each day that passes it feels like he's in a no-win situation. He can't erase the past and his falling short of expectations and he can't even take precautions to make sure his window isn't further closed by another late-season injury.
It feels like the guy can't catch a break, even if he's trying to avoid breaking anything. Maybe that's what the $193 million is for.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charles Barkley is Not a Fan of Joel Embiid's Load Management .
