The Philadelphia 76ers' season begins on Wednesday. They will tip off against the Milwaukee Bucks, one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
It is likely that this matchup will be a playoff matchup, as these two teams have some of the best players in the NBA. The 76ers have arguably the best player on their side, superstar center Joel Embiid.
Embiid is about to enter his ninth season in the NBA, and while injuries have been a struggle for him in his career, he's doing his best to be available this season.
How is he doing that, you might ask? Well, Embiid announced that he will not play in back-to-back games this season.
Embiid wants to be as healthy as possible by the time the playoffs roll around, and while the 76ers are backing him on this, others, including NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, are not happy.
Garnett ripped Embiid on his decision not to play back-to-backs.
"82 games, man, that's what the damn job entails," the former Celtics and Timberwolves forward said on the podcast he shares with Paul Pierce. "If you play playoffs, then the games, then the summer, then the season, that's when you rest, but I'm not going to criticize that crap, the son of a bitch is going to sit out the back-to-backs. Enough already with comparing eras, it has nothing to do with it if you don't play."
The 76ers have 15 back-to-back this season, and with every game that can hang in the balance, it could hurt the 76ers chances of possibly getting a homecourt advantage against one of the top teams in their conference.
Former NBA All-Star forward Paul Pierce said that Embiid's absence could hurt the 76ers' playoff seeding and perhaps cause them to play the top team in the league, the Boston Celtics, earlier than they want.
"You could end up facing Boston in the first round, and that's not good," Pierce said.
The fact that Embiid could miss that many games without being injured is not good news for the Sixers, but they are thinking about the long-term goal. Still, it could hurt them in the long run.
Last season, the Sixers were 16-27 without Embiid on the court and shot 44.7 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from three.
This is a big risk that the 76ers are taking, and we'll see if it works in their favor or if it bites them in the butt.
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