"I just wouldn’t trust him" - Bill Simmons thinks the Sixers are in dangerous territory with Joel Embiid

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Bill Simmons believes that Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid is hard to trust as a franchise player at this point simply because of his injury history. In the latest episode of “The Bill Simmons” podcast, Simmons explained why he’s skeptical about rooting for Embiid in the next few years.

“I just wouldn’t trust him. We’ve seen enough at this point. He’s going to be 31 next season. He’s a big dude. You’ve stood up with him on the court or been with him on the court. He’s a big dude who carries a lot of weight and structurally has had a bunch of things happen to him now. If I’m a Philly fan, I’m like oh yeah, we’ve got Embiid for the next 5 or 6 years, would you feel you had him for the next 5 or 6 years? It’s almost like you’re taking it year by year because you don’t know how his body is going to respond because each year is something else,” the renowned analyst said.

There’s been enough sample size

To be fair to Simmons, this isn’t an outrageous take. It’s a hard pill to swallow if you’re a Sixers or even Embiid fan who still has high hopes of him bringing a championship to Philadelphia. Aside from entering the draft with foot issues and missing two seasons because of it, “The Process” has been hurt in almost every Playoff series he competed in, including this year, where he’s playing through a knee injury. That’s why Simmons is questioning at what point do people stop giving the reigning MVP the benefit of the doubt.

At this point, Simmons compared Embiid to Kawhi Leonard because no matter how generational their talent and how high their ceiling is, somehow injuries always creep up on them, which ultimately ends up costing their team.

“It’s been a rollercoaster ride. The draft was 10 years ago, and it has now been a decade of Embiid, and I don’t think Philly fans are in the same position as when they drafted the guy with a broken foot where they’re like, ‘We don’t know what we’re going to get from this dude.’ But when he’s out there and feeling it, this is the guy who is averaging more points than minutes played in a season, which hasn’t been done since Wilt. So they’re like, ‘Alright, we’ve got to talk ourselves back into this one,’” Simmons added.

Is it time for the Sixers to give up on Embiid?

The question sounds absurd, knowing that Embiid won the MVP a year ago and could’ve likely done so again if injuries had not gotten in the way. However, there comes a point when tough decisions need to be made, especially if the organization isn’t progressing.

How do the Sixers plan to continue this experiment with their center? Will they take the route of recruiting another superstar beside him in the offseason and hope he stays healthy? Or will they finally accept their fate and bid farewell to their franchise player and start a new chapter?

It’s going to be interesting to see how the Sixers move forward with the reigning MVP knowing full well about his health issues throughout his career. How much more patience does Philadelphia have with Embiid?