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🏀 Joel Embiid Reveals an Injury

🏀 Joel Embiid Reveals an Injury

Chris Lesiak
October 24, 2022

Lakers blow late lead as their poor start continues, Joel Embiid reveals injury after 76ers fall to 0-3, and Adam Silver explores 'relegation' to combat tanking.

Start you week off strong!

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Lakers Blow Late Lead as Their Poor Start Continues

The Lakers are another team that has struggled to start the regular season. After a 106-104 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, the Lakers are another team that has fallen to 0-3. Portland trailed 102-95 with just under two minutes left before the Blazers ended the game on a 11-2 run to win. Damian Lillard continued his career long domination of the Lakers with 41 points. Over his career Dame has averaged 28 points per game against the Lakers.

The Lakers have had a ton of shooting woes this season after starting this game missing 17 of their first 18 3-point attempts. Their only made three in the first half came from Austin Reaves. Before Patrick Beverley hit an uncontested three in the 3rd quarter, the Lakers had shot 20 for 103 from distance before then.

Late in the game Lakers head coach Darvin Ham decided to bench Russell Westbrook. When asked about how Russ would react to this, Ham told reporters, “We don’t have time for people to be in their feelings.” Ham also told reporters that he reinserted Russ into the game “because he wanted another athletic perimeter defender so the Lakers could switch on the perimeter.” The Lakers will have a couple days off to figure things out before they play the 2-1 Nuggets on Wednesday.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

Joel Embiid Reveals Injury After 76ers Fall to 0-3

It is safe to say things are not going as planned for the Philadelphia 76ers this season. After an embarrassing loss Saturday to the San Antonio Spurs the Sixers are now 0-3 on the season. Their first two losses to the Celtics and Bucks aren’t as concerning for Sixers fans however there is no excuse for a loss to the rebuilding Spurs who may be a part of the Wembanyama campaign.

After the game, Sixers coach Doc Rivers revealed that Joel Embiid was dealing with plantar fasciitis earlier in the summer. This inflammation in the foot typically lingers for quite some time and had not been disclosed until Doc’s press conference. Doc also said that this has played a part in Joel Embiid’s conditioning being a little rough to start the season. Embiid said, prior to the season he hadn’t done anything for two months which has ‘slowed him down’ so far. Embiid has said he is fine now, however, with past foot injuries this isn’t something to glance over.

After a rough first two games Embiid did show out Saturday with 40 points and 13 boards. It appears he and Harden can’t really get on the same page after Harden showed out the first two games in which Joel struggled in. Even more concerning may be San Antonio’s bench outscoring Philly’s bench 40-10. Whatever is going on in Philadelphia it needs to turn around fast before things get ugly.

NBA TANKING

Adam Silver Explores 'Relegation' to Combat Tanking

With the recent emergence of the young French superstar Victor Wembanyama the NBA has continued to explore options to prevent teams from tanking. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has explained that he understands why teams do it especially when a “once-in-a-generation player” is about to enter the league. Howevertanking has become a serious issue in the NBA this year in particular which has sparked “hundreds” of meetings to discuss ways to prevent it.

One of the ways that was brought up in one of the meetings was “relegation.” This concept comes from European soccer where the worst two teams in the NBA would get relegated to in this case the G League. The two best G League teams would then be promoted in their places. Silver has told employees the NBA has considered relegation to combat tanking however ultimately turned down the idea because of how much it would disrupt the NBA’s business model. Furthermore, he argued that the two best G League teams would not be equipped to compete in the NBA.

Teams are constantly getting smarter and more creative when it comes to figuring out ways to tank. However, as more and more generational players like Victor continue to emerge, the league will continue to explore options to combat tanking moving forward.