Joel Embiid sounded like a broken man after 76ers were swept by Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers mostly went out with a whimper as they suffered a 144-114 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal matchup that completed the Knicks' sweep of the Sixers. 

Following Sunday's blowout, Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid spoke like a player with no real answers regarding all that's gone wrong for the 76ers since he was drafted by the club in 2014. 

Are Joel Embiid, 76ers cursed amid lack of overall success?

"I feel like I still played as hard as I could," Embiid explained, per Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media. "I fought hard, I tried to give us a better chance to win. Didn’t happen, so I look at myself, and I gotta be better. Maybe I’ve got to go to church more so I don’t have those type of things [injuries] right before the playoffs. I don’t know, maybe I’m cursed. I don’t know." 

Embiid has a well-known injury history, and he has never played in a conference finals series during his lengthy career. Most recently, he missed Game 2 of the series versus the Knicks due to right ankle and hip issues. That was Philadelphia's best performance of the four games, but the Sixers nevertheless suffered a 108-102 loss at Madison Square Garden back on May 6. 

One of the biggest stories of the final two games of the series involved Knicks fans taking over Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena. After Sunday's loss, 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey admitted that "it absolutely sucks" that Knicks fans were heard throughout Game 3 and Game 4. 

"Maybe Philadelphia’s cursed, I don’t know. That’s a joke, but just gotta keep doing the right things over and over and hope that at some point it changes," Embiid continued. 

Has Joel Embiid played his final game with the 76ers? 

Interestingly, Embiid also suggested that he doesn't know if he'll stay with the 76ers through the summer. 

"I don’t know who’s gonna be here," Embiid added during his postgame comments, according to Arjun Julka of Basketball Network. "I don’t even know if I’m gonna be here. Whatever happens … happens, but for me, I’m really excited about getting back to myself."

Embiid, 32, has two more years and a player option left on his contract. On Sunday night, Tim Bontemps of ESPN mentioned that "it's difficult to see a scenario in which the 76ers move on from either" Embiid or fellow veteran star Paul George this offseason.