Thursday brought hideous, ugly news as Joel Embiid, All-NBA center and patron saint of processes, was diagnosed with a broken face and a concussion. His head collided with — we kid you not — Markelle Fultz’s rehabilitated shoulder on Wednesday in Philadelphia’s win over the Knicks. That left Embiid in the concussion protocol, though the timeline on that is irrelevant for now because he’s out 2-4 weeks due to the orbital bone fracture.
Joel Embiid broke his face on Markelle Fultz’s rehabbed shoulder. Trust the Process.
We have that and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.
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That timeline means Embiid almost certainly won’t play again in the regular season. He will always possibly miss part or all of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series, which is absolutely crushing from a process standpoint. The playoffs were to be a culmination and coronation of sorts. If Embiid’s not there, it’s but an imitation of what ought to be.
While this is yet another awful injury in a season riddled with them, there’s no argument that this one is due to overuse. Freak accidents happen. Let’s hope theystop happening to the 76ers!
Playoff Picture Update
Scores Galore ...
WAS 92, DET 103
CHI 92, MIA 103
OKC 99, SAS 103
IND 106, SAC 103
MIL 116, GSW 107
... And So Much More
Zito Madu on how the Warriors can never be THE WARRIORS without Stephen Curry, though they may still win everything. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant got ejected AGAIN on Thursday for cussing up a ref.
Sports teams often talk about being more than a sports team. The Kings seem to be pulling that off right now. Meanwhile, Sacramento native Matt Barnes is hosting a rally for Stephon Clark on Saturday. Garrett Temple is leading a youth discussion panel on Friday.
The Limited Upside podcast is back! Prada and Epstein and special guest Michael Pina discuss what would happen if the top seeds in each conference could pick their opponents.
This is huge: Darius Bazley, a top-10 recruit, according to ESPN, and a McDonald’s All-American, has decommitted from Syracuse and will instead play in the G League next season before being eligible for the 2019 NBA Draft. At least one G League coach isn’t thrilled about this. More later on this.
Um, you need to catch up on Pop’s Culture, a funny, lovely mini-web series from Ilana Marks. Here’s Episode 1 and Episode 2 and — brand new — Episode 3.
Jason Kidd, who will be announced as a Hall of Fame inductee this weekend, isn’t exactly playing nice with the teams that fired him, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but is a thing.
Grant Hill on what it’s like boozing with Bill Raftery.
Be excellent to each other.
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