76ers lose the one guiding light in their dismal campaign indefinitely

The Philadelphia 76ers are cursed. You can't convince me otherwise.

Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture in Friday's loss to the Indiana Pacers, the third facial fracture of his career. That is truly historic bad luck. We aren't talking about repeatable knee injuries or the result of constant stress on the joints. Embiid has just been whacked in the face more than pretty much any player in recent memory — sometimes by his own teammates.

That is incredible misfortune for the NBA's most misfortunate star.

Philadelphia has only had five full games of semi-healthy Joel Embiid this season. Add on extended absences for Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, and there hasn't been much for fans to latch onto. Any time the Sixers appear to turn a corner, the basketball gods snuff out all hope. It's a torturous cycle.

Embiid getting his face thumped again was bad enough, but Jared McCain also fell on his head in the Pacers game. Thankfully, the standout rookie — perhaps the only source of joy in the 76ers fandom — was cleared of a potential concussion on Saturday. At least there is a slim silver lining...

PSYCH!

It all sucks all the time, folks. McCain also reported knee soreness to the 76ers medical staff on Saturday. After receiving an MRI, the Rookie of the Year frontrunner has been ruled out indefinitely with a torn lateral meniscus, which will require surgery.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like it, share it with an enemy!

76ers lose Jared McCain indefinitely as season from hell descends into deeper circle

Man, this just sucks. For the 76ers fandom — for the NBA community at large — but mostly for McCain, who has been a truly joyous presence in an otherwise dour and disconnected locker room. As Philadelphia has stacked losses and endured turmoil, McCain has been there, smiling through it all (literally) and putting on a committed performance every night.

Now he's done for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, McCain can return sooner than later, but would it even matter? The 76ers just seem destined to battle injury upon injury, setback upon setback. Nobody is confident in Embiid's health, not to mention Paul George and his twice-injured left knee. Maxey hasn't even performed up to his usual standards this season. It's just bleak.

At 7-16, the Sixers are somehow just two games out of the play-in tournament. A proper tank probably isn't possible with this roster, but what else can Philadelphia fans hope for? The odds of this team getting healthy enough and establishing the necessary cohesiveness for a championship run are virtually zero. There's a world in which Philadelphia stabilizes late in the season and goes into 2025-26 with some optimism, but even that feels a little too naive for the hardened 76ers fan.

McCain has been a true revelation, averaging 15.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on .460/.383/.875 splits in 25.7 minutes. His role has fluctuated along with the general availability of Philadelphia's stars, but there hasn't been a more consistent source of production and happiness all season. This is the cruelest twist of the knife yet.