The Philadelphia 76ers have consistently been in the conversation to win a championship throughout the Joel Embiid era since his rookie season back in 2016-17. The big fella has constantly thrown the team on his back, but injuries have marred his playoff runs as he has dealt with some form of injury in every single one of his playoff appearances.
The 2024-25 season was supposed to be one filled with success after the Sixers brought in Paul George in free agency. Philadelphia envisioned George, Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey leading the way and leading a deep playoff run in 2025. Instead, Embiid was limited to only 19 games due to a bothersome left knee injury, George was limited to only 41 games due to a variety of ailments, and Maxey played only 52. The trio played only 18 games together--finishing 15 of those 18.
The last time the Sixers won a championship was back in 1983 when they were led by the legendary Julius "Dr. J" Erving. The good Doctor joined "Kincade and Salciunas" on 97.5 The Fanatic and gave his thoughts on why the Sixers have been unable to get it done:
We have not been blessed with good health. And, you know, injuries are part of the game. We know, I remember when we had John Kilbourne there, and he was a spread flexibility coach and whatever, and the things that we did to just try and maintain our health, even with that, you know, Doug Collins went down, Andrew Tony went down, and, you know, those are great players who potentially were Hall of Famers and Doug is in the Hall of Fame. That's something you can't predict. I think doing a better job of, you know, maintaining the health and the conditioning of our players—it would be a step in the right direction if I were involved in the organization. I mean, I would put 100% focus on that right now, because we got such talent. We're paying a lot of money for the talent or whatever and, you know, we're only getting a 60% return on the investment right now.
The radio hosts also asked Erving whether he has talked to Embiid about his health and whether the big fella has taken any advice on how he can take better care of his body.
“So, I’ve only spoken to Joel [Embiid] in passing, and have not really been invited to have a sit-down conversation with him about his health, his wellness, his career, and all that. No, I haven’t been in that position. And you know, it wasn’t my job, it’s somebody else’s job per… pic.twitter.com/Bo0OUJwqc2
— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) June 13, 2025The Sixers will hope that Embiid comes back fully healthy and ready to go when the 2025-26 season begins in October. This is still a talented roster that will have as good a chance as anybody in the Eastern Conference. The East figures to be wide-open in 2026 as teams look to chase down the current East champions, the Indiana Pacers.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers legend gives thoughts on current team being unable to win title
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