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Fans of the Philadelphia 76ers have been through so much recently, and they have displayed an incredible amount of patience for a franchise content with tanking and stocking up on draft picks over the last couple of seasons.
Unfortunately, one of those draft picks, Joel Embiid, has reportedly suffered a setback in his rehab from a foot injury he sustained over a year ago. The Sixers made the calculated decision to rest Embiid for his entire rookie season last year, which was ultimately a smart move considering they were not going anywhere fast and they wanted another top pick in this year’s draft too.
However, this news has to be troublesome for them. A few years ago, they acquired Andrew Bynum in what turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades of all time. The tipping point for the Sixers was when Bynum reinjured himself bowling one evening when he was supposed to be taking it easy and recovering from his injury.
Just like Bynum, Embiid has demonstrated a strange and erratic personality that suggests he is very immature and has a lot of growing up to do. Granted, this most recent setback did not occur because he was doing something he should not have been doing. He was working hard in coming back from his injury, but the comparison is certainly there nonetheless given how similar Embiid and Bynum are as both players and people.
Hopefully for Sixers fans, this is just a small blip in the radar and Embiid will be ready by opening day. But you have to think at least a good portion are thinking “Here we go again…” with this report. Personally, I believe Embiid will be a success in Philadelphia, but the fans there cannot take too much more in the line of disappointing stories. They need a future star too look too, and they need Embiid to show he has the capability to be one right from the start of this season.
Dan Schultz is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.
