Have you picked a side on the PANIC vs. don't panic debate in regards to Joel Embiid's recent setback?
If you're looking to settle yourself down a bit from the initial freak out on Saturday, this quote from Embiid's former coach at Kansas could help ease your worries a little bit.
Granted, it's got a bit of a whisper-down-the-lane aspect to it.
From KUSports.com's Benton Smith (via CBS):
The future didn't seem so dire, though, in one third-hand account of the center's situation. On Monday afternoon, Bill Self told reporters KU assistant coach Norm Roberts spoke with Embiid on the phone this past weekend and the injury-plagued big told his former college assistant “he hasn't re-injured anything.”
“Basically, he's been working out and everything, and the doctor told him — based on doing the MRIs or X-rays or whatever they do… even though it feels better, it doesn't look like it's made the progress they would hope at this stage, so they were gonna slow him down,” Self related. “But by no means, from what Jo has told us, 'slow down' does not mean major setback. It means they're gonna give it a little bit more time to heal before they put him in stressful situations.”
Read this any way you want. I simply look at it as a bit more information to toss into the mix of whether or not you think this is a dire situation or one that the Sixers are simply being extremely cautious about.
NBA
I'm partial to our colleague John Gonzalez's report from Sunday night that it is too soon to really know anything either way at this point: "To be clear, it’s entirely possible that Embiid will avoid a second surgery. The Sixers, as they mentioned in Saturday’s statement, are currently engaged in 'discussions regarding the appropriate next steps.' However those discussions, as of Sunday, have not ruled out another procedure."
Sixers fans continue to hope for the best and will take any positive news they can get -- even if it comes third-hand from a guy who once played video games with Joel at Kansas.