Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Sports
Sports

Is Joel Embiid On the Move? The Reigning MVP Scrubbing Philadelphia 76ers from His Social Media Profiles May Be Another Epic Trolling Move

By | Published on August 16, 2023
CommentsComments (0) Add as a preferred source on Google i

A day after James Harden called Philadelphia 76ers’ president Daryl Morey a liar; MVP Joel Embiid has scrubbed any mention of the team from his X, formerly known as Twitter, bio. If you’re a fan of the Sixers it has been a rough 48 hours. But what does any of it mean?

Let’s get to the facts.

Embiid Is Under Contract

Embiid just signed a four year $213 million supermax extension. He has three years left and a player option in 2026-27. The team has control over him, so it is highly unlikely they do anything. Even if he threatens to be a malcontent.

Where it gets interesting is the Harden of it all. We’ve seen him play bizarrely, show up to camp out of shape and make things difficult on his previous teams to force his way out. Can the Sixers handle that?

We know Morey is fine with uncomfortable, but is the team? How about new head coach Nick Nurse?

Embiid is 29, and with his injury history how many peak seasons does he realistically have left? If he sees Harden isn’t fully invested and Morey isn’t doing anything to bring players in who want to win now, Embiid could start exerting pressure as the franchise player.

That pressure could be in the form of a trade demand.

Not The Way To Begin A Championship Season

Morey will not move either Harden or Embiid unless he gets back maximum value. Very few teams have the assets Morey would even consider, let alone the salaries or cap space to accommodate.

The 76ers finished last season with the third-best record in the East and had a disappointing loss to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals after holding a 3-2 series lead with a chance to close out in Game 6 at home.

Read the full story here.

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top