76ers 2024-25 schedule once again confirms the NBA hates The Process

Welcome to the dog days of the NBA offseason. Some of us are still bleary eyed from Team USA's Gold Medal run featuring LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant. We are about five-ish weeks away from training camp and a little over nine weeks away from the start of the regular season.

While it won't hold us over for long, the NBA gave us at least something to sink our teeth into. Teams just released their schedules for the 2024-2025 season, and it wasn't good news for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The NBA gave the 76ers more than their share of back-to-backs

The Sixers' schedule features 15 back-to-back games this season, five of them in January alone. Based on Brett Siegel's report, this places Philly second in the league in terms of back-to-backs. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, LA Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, and Washington Wizards (?) are all ahead of Philadelphia with 16 back-to-back games scheduled.

As dominant as Joel Embiid is, it's no secret he struggles to stay on the court, and 15 back-to-backs probably won't help Embiid's cause. Sixers beat writer Adam Aaronson reported that last season, the Sixers played 11 back-to-back games. Joel Embiid, however, only participated in five of those. It's not like he doesn't produce in these games either. For example, on Dec. 15, 2023, Embiid scored 35 points against the Detroit Pistons. The next night, he had 42 points against the Charlotte Hornets. Granted, these weren't the most competitive teams last season. So, how about this - a month later, on Jan. 15, 2023, Embiid dropped 41 points on the Houston Rockets. Then, the following night, he scored 41 points against the, at the time, reigning champion Denver Nuggets. So, it's not that Embiid can't play in back-to-backs. He can, and when he does, boy does he perform. 

The more realistic reason for Embiid missing is that he probably only has so much gas in the tank. We saw the effects of these back-to-backs last season. Realistically, why else would Joel Embiid bail out of a matchup against Jokic, who he dropped 41 points on the last time they met? It's a marathon, not a sprint. Thankfully, there should be a little less weight on Embiid's shoulders this time around. This years' team is completely different from last years'. You added Paul George, among others. Andre Drummond is a fantastic backup big man. Point being, maybe there's no need to panic. Maybe, with this revamped team, Embiid will have more gas to compete.