Over last 26 games, 76ers owe Embiid right to try
Joel Embiid, never too sore to join the Beautiful People at whatever the hot weekend event might be, popped into New Orleans for the NBA’s AllStar carry-on and, as he will, created a stir.
No, he didn’t dance on a stage.
No, he didn’t participate in any of the All-Star events.
No, he didn’t even say anything outrageous.
“The playoffs,” he said to reporters, “are right there.” That’s what he did. And with that, there was news. With that, there was a mini-controversy. With that, there was a decision to be made. With that, there was evidence as to why Embiid is so popular in Philadelphia, even if he seldom plays in basketball games.
He’s popular because he rejects the yellowed, crumpled, failed script the Sixers have been brandishing for nearly 10 percent of the total existence of their franchise. He has repaired feet and a history of back trouble and a meniscus that needs a custodian. But he never stops saying what the Sixers don’t seem to want to hear: That there is a value in reaching the playoffs, and soon. It’s what he yelped earlier, during a nice flurry of Sixers success, in the locker room in Brooklyn. He said the Sixers could make the playoffs, the New York press took notice, the attitude spread, Embiid continued to play spectacular basketball, the Wells Fargo Center came alive and, for once, it all seemed possible.
So there was Embiid, healthy enough to do a soft shoe with Meek Mill on stage, looking at the 26 games the Sixers still must play, doing the quick math and asking, “Why not?” Well … why not? At least, why not try, long as the odds look as the NBA enters its post-All-Star break push?
Though the Sixers have the 13th best record in the 15-team Eastern Conference, they will begin the traditional “second half” of the season Friday at 21-35, which is just 5 ½ games behind the 27-30 Pistons, who are temporarily tucked into the eighth and final playoff spot. That’s a substantial gap to close in 26 games, and it would require the Sixers to pass the Knicks, Hornets, Heat and Bucks too. But what makes Embiid’s wail reasonable is the reality that, with him in the lineup, the Sixers are not only good enough to beat anybody, but good enough to challenge any team in a playoff round.
And, yes, that includes Cleveland, which will be without Kevin Love for six weeks due to a knee injury and resulting surgery, and which could be slightly compromised even after his return.
Last year, the eighth Eastern Conference playoff spot went to the Pistons at 44-38. That would require the Sixers to go 23-3. Unlikely? Of course. But each season has its own dynamic. And this year, the eighth-place team is playing .474 basketball. If form holds and .475 basketball proves sufficient to snag that spot, the Sixers would have to go 18-8 to finish 3943. With Embiid, the ever improving Dario Saric, the spectacle that T.J. McConnell has become at point guard, Robert Covington’s defense, Brett Brown’s improved coaching and a favorable whistle or two, a .692 finish is at least within the boundaries of reason in the spirit of competitive sports.
That’s all Embiid is begging for, anyway: That opportunity to give this Sixers team, which plays a beautiful, unselfish style and competes with the passion of college teams a chance to see if it can win a playoff spot. For the first 196,996 years man had been on earth, that was the only way to think. It’s only in the last four that a warped Sixers front office has spread an alternative mental disease that causes glassy-eyed followers to believe that losing games is the nobler mission.
Technically, Embiid’s AllStar Weekend plea was for the Sixers not to trade Jahlil Okafor, to keep the nucleus together for at least another year, and make a serious championship push in 20172018. But he has been clear, and was again, that seeking a playoff spot this season is a worthwhile endeavor. Will it happen? Well … Unlike, say, baseball, there are no three-game series for a team to close substantial
standings gaps in a weekend. And for the Sixers to catch the Pistons, it would require the other teams in their way to lose often. And because they will all be playing each other, too, some will be winning games. The Sixers still have a four-game West Coast swing to fulfill, and from March 9 through March 23, they will play nine of their 11 games on the road. So for the consumer, it wouldn’t pencil out to juggle the monthly budget in the anticipation of financing Sixers playoff tickets. But why not try? The Sixers insist, and they are right, that Embiid could play with a torn meniscus. If an upcoming CT scan indicates Ben Simmons could play competitive basketball without it being a threat to humankind, he could help, too, were the postseason push to edge toward seriousness.
At the minimum, giving Embiid, McConnell, Saric, Covington, Nerlens Noel and other young Sixers a late-season purpose would have benefits later. Brown had campaigned for weeks for Embiid to go to the AllStar Weekend just to benefit from the association with the greats in the sport, to see how they prepare, how they act, how they win. OK. But a playoff run would provide Embiid with the same effect while giving the customers a shot of joy, too.
So do it. Green-light Embiid. Keep Okafor around for scoring, at least until the next trading swirl. Win games. Win enthusiasm. Win dignity. Win for this year, and next, and the year after that. Win so that the next time a 76er talks about the playoffs, it won’t create a stir at all.