Joel Embiid plans to never play back-to-back games again

Joel Embiid he made it clear that he has no plans to play in consecutive (back-to-back) games for the rest of his career. Given his history of injuries and missed games, this is not a surprising decision. Speaking to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Embiid said, “If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs for the rest of my career.”

Since arriving in the league, Joel Embiid has been plagued by injuries that have limited his playing time. Over the past eight seasons, he has played in just 433 of a possible 637 regular season games. This doesn’t include the first two years of his career, which he completely missed due to foot injuries.

The Sixers have long taken a cautious approach with their star, often resting him to preserve his health for the playoffs. Now, it appears Embiid and the organization are committed to a long-term strategy of load management, prioritizing his availability for big games rather than pushing for the length of the regular season.

In the 2023-24 season, Embiid put up incredible numbers, averaging 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, shooting an impressive 52.9% from the field and 38.8 % from beyond the arc. Embiid missed several games early in the season and then pushed himself to meet the NBA’s recently implemented 65-game minimum requirement for end-of-season awards, a clause in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Unfortunately, he did this while not fully healthy, which led to further injuries and kept him out for an extended period of time.