The fact that he re-broke the foot is actually a new development. I'd be interested in seeing the particulars on when/how they found that out.
This situation remains somewhat bizarre for a number of reasons.
One of the main disagreements fans here were having about Embiid stemmed from how they were interpreting the facts in the situation. I was on the losing side of that disagreement, clearly. But I kept pointing out several things.
#1 - He felt no pain.
#2 - He was going full-bore training and a routine CT scan showed something "different" that was consistently referred to as "not healed as much as hoped"
#3 - He didn't seem to be in a walking boot. He was hanging around summer league running up stairs and shooting shots.
#4 - It was reported multiple times that he did NOT re-break his navicular bone.
#5 - THe original prognosis said it could take up to 12 months to heal and we were now at the 12 month mark...
Now, there had been a couple tweets/rumors without proper sources that claimed this was more serious. It was mentioned that surgery wasn't ruled out... But everything coming from the team, Hinkie, the CEO of the 76ers, Embiid himself and Bill Self seemed to suggest that surgery wasn't the first option. If it was broken, you'd think that surgery would be the immediate option.
Based on this, you could come up with your own interpretation of events, but both were completely speculative. I admitted that my opinion was pure speculation... none of us actually knew what was going on... there were just two rival conspiracy theories.
#1 - The team was lying. His foot was broken. His career was over.
#2 - It was less serious than they were letting on. It probably had to do with the tissue surrounding the bone. He would be kept out of summer league but should be fine to go in 4 months when the season started.
I was in camp #2. I was wrong. Fine. But now it appears that those who were right were only right, because their conspiracy theory was correct. The team literally was lying. I hadn't factored that into my speculation.
Still, there remains major confusion about what exactly is going on with Embiid's health. There remains debate on whether or not the report by Bob Cooney about Embiid's foot being "rebroken" is even accurate. Is Cooney (who 76ers fans seem to be suggesting is a hack) just misreporting things? Does it even matter? It kind of does matter whether or not it "re-broke" or if a different part of the foot broke. I've seen the phrase "spider cracks" thrown out there. Some people speculate that Embiid's growth may have caused an issue with the screws in place. Regardless of whether or not his foot actually did "re-break", I believe they'll need to surgically break it again to put in the bone graft... and I say "believe", because I still don't know... and nobody else does either. The 76ers are oddly keeping details of what's happening under wraps. And it makes things all the more confusing when Embiid is seen walking around (without a boot) on his supposedly "broken" foot by TMZ yesterday:
http://www.tmz.com/2015/07/21/nbas-joel-embiid-john-wall-video-ty-lawson/I get flack on this forum for writing about Embiid, but my motivation was purely as a fan of basketball. Instead of burying the kid based on "Greg Oden"/"Yao Ming", I genuinely want to know what's going on with him. This is a weird situation... and I'm not the only person who thinks so. Here's a recent article that I highly recommend:
http://www.csnphilly.com/basketball-philadelphia-76ers/sixers-mishandled-joel-embiid-injury-newsIt?s a complicated situation for all sorts of reasons, but one aspect is clear enough: the Sixers haven?t done a very good job explaining exactly what?s going on with Joel Embiid.
In a new report, sources told Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News that the navicular bone in Embiid?s right foot was re-broken. A Sixers spokesperson did not respond when CSNPhilly.com inquired about the story.
A little over a week ago, it was revealed that Embiid will have a second surgery on his foot and will miss the upcoming 2015-16 season. As recently as early June, Embiid was reportedly progressing in his rehab and expected to play in summer league. Then a routine CT scan revealed ?less healing than anticipated,? according to a hastily issued team statement late on a Saturday evening in mid-June. All of that despite the fact that Sam Hinkie said Embiid was pain-free and felt great.
Sixers fans have been force-fed a lot of reports over the last month or so, but digesting the material is difficult in the absence of greater context and clarification. That?s where the Sixers lost control of the narrative and did themselves and their fans a disservice. Walking everyone through what?s happened so far and why would go a long way. Two purposefully cloudy press releases are inadequate by comparison.
This is, again, a hyper complex situation. Sources tell the Daily News that Embiid?s navicular bone was re-broken. There?s no reason to doubt Cooney or his sources. But what the Sixers would likely say ? if they were to uncloak themselves and reveal anything at all ? is that even the best orthopedic surgeons in the world tend to disagree when diagnosing this particular injury and recommending a course of action. The language used to describe the current state of his navicular bone has also differed. That?s something the Sixers could and should explain.
After the draft but before the second surgery was announced, I had separate conversations with two different sources close to the situation. Both independently explained the attendant complications in deciding if Embiid needed another procedure. They said Embiid had consulted several excellent doctors and was scheduled, at the time, to see at least two more. The problem in determining if Embiid should have the second surgery was that even though the team was sending him to the very best specialists, finding any sort of consensus on the matter proved difficult.
One of the sources explained it this way, and I?m paraphrasing: After seeing Doctor A, they ask Doctor A for his prognosis. He recommends Embiid undergoes the "Doctor A Procedure." They inquire about what that is. He tells them it?s a procedure he invented for this specific injury. After seeing Doctor B, they ask Doctor B for his prognosis. He recommends Embiid undergoes the "Doctor B Procedure." Doctor B also invented his method. And so on. Countless doctors. Countless opinions, some of which mesh, many of which do not.
This is something the Sixers would never say publicly, but it?s absolutely something they kicked around internally. If you?re the doctor who operates on Yao Ming?s navicular bone, even if his career is cut short, you?re still the doctor who did the procedure. That?s a massive deal. Athletes with similar problems might seek you out. It?s a huge career boost. Embiid?s first surgery was done by Dr. Richard Ferkel. He said all the right things after the procedure, telling reporters ?the surgery went very well and I'm confident that after appropriate healing he will be able to return to NBA basketball.? You wouldn?t expect him to say anything else. And it might still be the case. But regardless of what happens to Embiid?s career, Ferkel operated on a high-profile patient with high-profile friends in a high-profile business.
That might be a cynical way of looking at things, and the main motivations when recommending surgery (or not recommending it) are likely altruistic, but all of that was part of the process the Sixers went through when deciding whether Embiid should have another surgery. Some factors were bigger than others. Some information was weighed more heavily. But there were a lot of moving parts.
The other issue: It wasn?t a unilateral decision. Hinkie didn?t simply tell Embiid to go off and have another procedure. A lot of people were involved in the recommendation, and then Embiid had to sign off. I was told that took some time. As previously noted, he felt pain-free. He?s also a 21-year-old kid who does 21-year-old kid stuff. (The Sixers ?addressed? the Phunkee Duck flap with Embiid, if you?re wondering.)
This wasn?t simple on any level. Which is why walking everyone through the process and pointing out the seemingly unending variables would have helped quite a bit. The Sixers are a secretive organization. Hinkie admitted to telling his staff to ?never let your guard down. Never.? Which is a fine (if frustrating) approach for a general manager/president to adopt on many basketball-related matters. But in this particular instance, it makes less sense. We know Embiid needs surgery. We know he?ll be out another year. But there?s so much more we don?t know. Is the bone in fact re-broken? How did it happen? When? What were the different opinions of the different specialists? What language did they use in their diagnosis? Is Embiid still pain-free? What?s the success rate for a second navicular procedure? Has the doctor who will do the procedure performed it before? How many times? What was his/her success rate? And on and on.
There?s a lot to navigate here. The Sixers should better explain how and why they plotted this particular course.
And look, I was clearly on the losing side of the Embiid debate... I have ate my crow for it. But again, I wasn't factoring in the possibility that the team was literally lying about what was going on with Embiid. This is very strange:
http://deadspin.com/did-the-76ers-lie-about-joel-embiids-injured-foot-1719150487Finally, nobody seems to know when the reported re-break occurred, and what activity Embiid is or isn?t allowed to undertake. Cooney writes that until June 13 was practicing full bore, and after the announcement of ?less healing than anticipated? he was still taking flat-footed shots at the team?s practice facility, and wasn?t wearing a boot nor limping. And last week in Las Vegas, after the announcement of his season-ending surgery, Embiid was spotted running ?up the steps at the Thomas and Mack Center toward the concourse level.?
When reports about whether a guy ran or walked up some steps and what protective footwear he was or wasn?t wearing while doing so becomes relevant, you can be assured we?re through the looking glass.
If the 76ers understood the specifics of Embiid?s injury but sought to obfuscate them in public statements and in conversations with the press, all I can say is that they are even dumber than I thought. Considering the amount of people that know the details of his injury?the front office, the coaching staff, the training staff, a number of independent doctors, Embiid, his agent, his family, and whoever any of these people told?the chances of this specific lie not getting outed was close to zero. And when there is already a healthy distrust that your team is conducting itself on the level (the 76ers were fined $3 million for not fully disclosing the extent of Jrue Holiday?s injury when trading him to the Pelicans in 2013), furthering that reputation is a very bad idea.
Teams lying about injuries is nothing new, but usually they do so for some sort of competitive advantage. Considering Embiid was over four months from playing in a game when the team announced they would reevaluate his foot, it?s hard to understand what advantage they gained. Instead, it looks another move that prioritizes public relations for an organization that seemingly cares more about PR than putting a functioning basketball team on the court.
Topic: Embiid rebroke foot , wil miss next season too ! (Read 47239 times)