Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse has continued to field questions about star center Joel Embiid since the start of the season as his absence continues with very little indication that he will be returning anytime soon. And unsurprisingly, he had to do so ahead of their game on Wednesday, getting put in an incredibly tough spot by Philadelphia radio host Howard Eskin.
Nurse and the entire organization has been under fire over how they have handled the Embiid situation, largely refusing to update fans on his status outside of mentioning Embiid’s limited participation in practice.
This caused the NBA to launch their own investigation into the matter, which offered far more information on Embiid’s status than Nurse or anyone else from the organization had thus far.
The NBA’s findings in their investigation detailed that Embiid hasn’t been able to play yet this season due to a “left knee condition” On top of that, Nurse and 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey were fined $100,000 for public statements that were “inconsistent” with the league’s findings on Embiid’s status.
Here’s the official release from the NBA on its investigation into Joel Embiid missing the start of the season due to a “left knee condition.” pic.twitter.com/rRHZjxsZ8C
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) October 29, 2024
Nurse has been increasingly irritated by questions about Embiid, refusing a reporter’s question on the matter on Tuesday. But instead of accepting Nurse’s half answers about Embiid like other reporters have this season, Howard Eskin decided to challenge the 76ers’ handling of the issue.
“Nick, do you think it’s fair to your paying customers and your fans to not have any idea when your star player is going to play?” Eskin asked Nurse.
As you would expect, Nurse again largely avoided the question.
“That’s a big question,” said Nurse. “Listen, our guys are working out. They are making progress. They have workouts tomorrow, Friday. We ought to have a better indication of where they are by then.”
Eskin then further pressed Nurse on the issues, telling him that his reply didn’t answer his question about the fans getting better information.
“But that didn’t answer the question,” Eskin added. “Do you think it’s fair? I mean, I have complaints from people buying tickets and I don’t know whether they are going to play…”
Nurse answered this by justifying that the 76ers don’t “have the information all the time” needed to give to fans before they buy tickets to games.
“They are listed as out,” said Nurse of Embiid and fellow injured 76ers star Paul George. “Within the league guidelines, we have to list them. That’s why the league has those guidelines. So we list them that way. We don’t have all the information all the time. The reason you do it the day before is you want to make sure.”
Eskin didn’t get much of anything that he asked from Nurse. But he tried one more time by bringing up the 76ers plan to sit Embiid on back-to-backs, a plan that has been scrutinized by fans and media members alike.
“So is he going to play back-to-back games as he said he’s not going to do? To give them some indication,” asked Eskin.
Nurse did somewhat give an answer to this question. But it’s probably not the answer Eskin was looking for, suggesting Embiid would at least not play the first back-to-back that he faces once he returns to the floor.
“I think at this point, again, everything is always fluid. But I think at this point, the first back-to-back coming up, I would imagine he would not be a part of it. I don’t know which end of that yet. You just don’t know where you’re at leading into that to make those decisions.”
#Sixers paying and other fans would like to have better answers on when Joel Embiid is playing. HC Nick Nurse needs to answer those questions but… you listen @SportsRadioWIP pic.twitter.com/zp8VK4xkjG
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) October 30, 2024
Clearly, Nick Nurse and the 76ers’ organization as a whole are at a point whether they either don’t feel comfortable answering questions about Embiid or simply don’t care enough to. But until they do, it seems like Eskin will be pushing for answers.
