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Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid suffers setback from foot injury

By Patrick Schmidt

Feb 20, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown (left) walks with center Joel Embiid (21) after running him threw drills prior to a game against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown (left) walks with center Joel Embiid (21) after running him threw drills prior to a game against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Philadelphia 76ers rookie center Joel Embiid suffered a minor setback in his recovery from right foot surgery.

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Joel Embiid with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft knowing full well he would miss a significant part of his rookie season after undergoing surgery on the navicular bone in his right foot.

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Their deliberate approach to rebuilding with the drafting of big men sustaining injuries in college was what we saw them do last year when they drafted Nerlens Noel despite his ACL surgery, but optimism began to surface after video of Embiid throwing down a between-the-legs dunk.

Granted, pregame workouts are a far cry from the physical challenge that is playing in a regular season game, but after video surfaced of the athletic play, it would be safe to assume a return to the court was coming soon.

76ers head coach Brett Brown tried to downplay the excitement and optimism and didn’t want people to get mislead.

“I think you can get misled easily, and fair enough, when you see that and think, ‘Sure, he can come play,'” Brown said, via CSN Philly. “I get it. At times, I think that myself, but it is not at that stage. I think there is a legitimate reason for people to get excited when you see a 7-foot man do something as athletic as that.”

Now their optimism is really dampened after 76ers beat reporter, Tom Moore, tweeted that Embiid suffered a minor setback with his injury.

Hopefully the setback was indeed a “minor” one and this won’t put an official end to his bid of playing his rookie season for the sake of him and for 76ers fans. Those poor fans have had to patiently wait for Noel to hit the court last year and now Embiid this year all while they have to put up with a product that has a 14-49 record, the second worst in the NBA.

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