Colangelo takes pains to clarify Embiid’s recovery process
CAMDEN, N.J. » Any confusion over the extent of Joel Embiid’s season-ending knee injury was due to a 76ers communications gap, the latest in a series.
Embiid was quoted in recent days by ESPN as saying that he originally feared up to a six-month recovery from the surgery to repair what the Sixers had assured was a slight tear in his left meniscus. But that was, as team president Bryan Colangelo tried to clarify Friday, something of a misunderstanding.
While the Sixers were firm in their stance that Embiid’s injury was not acute, they solicited opinions from up to nine leading experts on knee surgery. According to Colangelo, Embiid sat in on the talks. At some point, the possibility of a more severe tear was discussed.
“Joel heard everything,” Colangelo said. “He heard in some cases it may be a full tear. If that was the case, he would have been facing a six-month recovery plan and a much longer period of non-weight bearing and other things.
“What happened, to the delight of everyone, was that it was less significant than a worst-case scenario. A repair was not necessary. It was a simple menisectomy a repair was not necessecary, asuinple menisectomy. And we move forward.” Embiid is recovering in California.
*** Robert Covington’s contract will expire at the end of next season. Colangelo would rather it not get to that point with a player the Sixers believe fits their needs as a shooter and defender. Extension? “It’s certainly something we want to address,” Colangelo said. “There is some flexibility in the new CBA that allows us to make a more concerted attempt toward that. I can not talk about free-agent related thing, including your own players. But Robert Covington is a valued piece of this organization. He has really vaulted to a player that we want to make part of this organization. He deserves a lot of credit for what he has done. He has become a really, established player at that three-and-D position.”
Covington averaged 12.9 points in 67 games, often guarding the opposing team’s top wing player. He will require minor surgery on his right knee.
*** Though Dario Saric finished the season with such pain his left heel that it caused him to miss the final game, Brett Brown is OK with the Rookie of the Year candidate playing this summer for the Croatian national team.
“It’s a part of foreign players’ childhood, it’s a part of foreign players’ dreams to represent their country,” said Brown, formerly the coach of Australia’s Olympic team. “I had the luxury to see it in real time a lot of times. The balance of how you navigate that is delicate. The fact that our season ended April 13 makes it easier. So the summertime, for us, is longer.”
Saric is battling plantar fasciitis, the Sixers say. Brown said the Sixers have arranged a “meticulous” summertime physical plan for Saric, allowing for both rest and international competition.