Charles Barkley has criticized 76ers big man Joel Embiid for the investigation surrounding his load management narrative.
NBA insider Shams Charania disclosed this week that the NBA will be looking into the situation, as Embiid missed the entire opening week and did not participate in any preseason games due to managing a left knee injury.
“It’s common for the NBA to review a team when a superstar player misses a nationally televised game, in line with the player participation policy,” Shams stated.
In addition to this, Embiid also stated that he will likely never play in back-to-back games for the remainder of his career, which does not bode well for the start of the season.
Despite only playing 39 games last season due to various injuries, Embiid still found the time to play for Team USA in Paris.
Barkley did not hold back on TNT and advised Embiid to toughen up.
“I have no idea what the Sixers are thinking. I don’t think it’s fair,” Barkley expressed. “[Embiid] just signed a three-year, $193 million deal to play basketball. We’re not steelworkers or nurses with real jobs where we work 40-50 hours a week. We play basketball maybe four days a week, usually three. He has the best backup in the league in [Andre] Drummond.
“If they needed to, they could have just said – and Kenny [Smith] and Shaq [O’Neal] know this – hey, I’ll play 25 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. Or have Drummond play. But to announce it in advance was a mistake by the Sixers. Period.”
Philly reports that Embiid is “responding well to his individualized plan” and will increase his return-to-play activities this week, including scrimmages.
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