Insider Says "Debilitated" Joel Embiid Should "Consider Retiring"

He's simply a shell of his former MVP self. Joel Embiid is having a brutal season, hobbled and battered. Tony Jones in The Athletic says the Philadelphia 76ers should shut their 7-foot center down for the season, as he gets more imaging on his chronically injured knee.

But Stephen A. Smith went one step further than shutting him down for the year. He's wondering if it's time to put the big man out to pasture... for good.

"Embiid looks like he can barely move. ... If you're Embiid, you're kind of wondering, should you consider retiring?" 😯

—@stephenasmith on Joel Embiid and the 76ers pic.twitter.com/u18BEDapIV
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 24, 2025

"Embiid looks like he can barely move. His health is awful... If you're Embiid, you're kind of wondering, should you consider retiring?" asked the ESPN mouthpiece. "That's how debilitated he looks."

It's unlikely, of course, as the big man from Cameroon has up to four years (if a player option is picked up) and $248.1 million remaining on his contract after this season.

Smith also figures that GM Daryl Morey "is going to end up losing his job" eventually. Ownership must be wondering, Smith argues, why Morey convinced them to sign Embiid to that massive deal with his history of injury troubles.

Embiid, who'd averaged 30+ points per season over the previous three years, including an MVP campaign in 2023, is averaging a below-par (for him) of 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this year while shooting 44.4% from the field and 29.9% from 3-point land. Both shooting marks are career lows. He's played in just 19 games.

And his struggles have dragged the Sixers down to a woeful 20-36 record, 1.5 games out of a play-in spot.