Joel Embiid missed the first two games of the Miami Heat-Philadelphia 76ers series due to suffering an orbital fracture. That was sustained during the Philadelphia 76ers-Toronto Raptors series, after an inadvertent elbow from Pascal Siakam.
At the time of the injury, some Toronto Raptors fans cheered. This came after Joel Embiid did a little bit of showboating, doing his signature airplane move on their court. Recently, Joel Embiid has criticized Raptors fans for cheering during that time, and pointed out that their actions “changed” his mind about them being a great fanbase.
Embiid saved some bullets for Raptors fans for how they reacted to his injury and the “fuck Embiid” chants during the series:
“I always thought they had great fans but it kind of changed my mind…I think they got mad because i did the airplane celebration”
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) May 7, 2022
“I always thought they had great fans but it kind of changed my mind…I think they got mad because i did the airplane celebration”
There is no doubt that fans cheering after a player gets injured is absolutely unacceptable. Injuries are one of the worst parts of sports, and it is unfortunate that Joel Embiid has had to miss important games with an orbital fracture. He did play in Game 3 of the Heat-76ers series though, and it was a game that the 76ers ended up winning handily. Many fans lauded his impact on the team, with some claiming that the team was “revived” by his mere presence.
Hopefully, Joel Embiid suffers no further complications with his injury and is able to play for the rest of the playoffs. He was wearing a mask during the game, and will likely need to wear it for the foreseeable future to minimize the risk of further injury.
The Philadelphia 76ers managed to win a game, but are still down 2-1 against the Miami Heat. Hopefully, Joel Embiid is able to continue leading them to wins during the series, and they’ll need him at his best going forward to defeat the Miami Heat. Joel Embiid will need to step up, and based on the way he’s played throughout the entirety of the season, we’ll likely see some extremely dominant performances from him in the near future.
