Philadelphia journalist makes point on Joel Embiid’s career after recent interview, ‘Rarely do you have a guy tell…’

Journalist makes point on Embiid’s future

Udonis Haslem recently picked Embiid as the best center of the league over Nikola Jokic when fit and ready to compete.

His ability is known to all, but in recent years injuries have constantly troubled the seven-time All-Star.

He went to the Olympics last year and when he returned with the 76ers, there were niggles that led him to only play 19 games for the team.

His interview with ESPN gave a detailed insight about his career, but Keith Pompey, a renowned Philly journalist, believes this could possibly be the former MVP’s way of saying his career was coming to an end.

Speaking on Sirius XM Radio, Pompey said: “I think Joel may know that the end is near and this is just me saying and this is just explaining the people what he’s been going through.

“Because rarely do you have a guy tell you how much pain and how much they’re going through. The same thing I took from it was no matter who is there the culture is the same and I think that Joel Embiid knows that it may not be this season, but the end is near.

“And maybe though he thinks he can’t play to the same level he used to. I could be wrong, he could come out and end up having an MVP season, but that was my takeaway and questioning why you came out with the article at this particular time.”

Joel Embiid could still be valuable

While Embiid’s return date is not set, the 76ers will be hoping he can return at least before the All-Star break as that will give them enough time to prepare with him for the playoffs.

They had a disappointing 2024-25 season and one of the reasons behind that was his constant absence and Paul George‘s struggles.

Both were expected to help Philly become championship contenders, but they have not played enough together. The 76ers now have another star in VJ Edgecombe, who even Nick Nurse is a fan of.

Embiid could take his time to return as the 76ers have the roster to compete. However, when he gets back, they will be a lot more destructive as he is one of the most dominant players in the league.

If he is not able to play like his former self, it will certainly be difficult, but Embiid has proven in the past that he has a lot of other qualities that make him a quality player.