LeBron Blaming The Media For Joel Embiid Getting Hurt Is Some Bananaland Level Spinzone

Sean M. Haffey. Getty Images.

Even as someone who wouldn't exactly identify as a Sixers fan, even I can't sit here and tell you that seeing Joel Embiid get hurt and tear his meniscus wasn't a huge bummer. As someone who thoroughly enjoys watching the best players in the world play basketball, it stinks. Embiid's been having one of the most impressive statistical seasons of any player in NBA history, and in my opinion, an even better year than his MVP season.

The reality of an NBA season is that injuries happen. They all suck, it would be awesome if they didn't, but that's life. After Embiid's injury, there seems to be a whole lot of discourse as to who is actually to blame for it. If you ask LeBron, his answer is simple

To me, LeBron is missing the entire point here. The big bad media does not control what happens with Joel Embiid. Did people troll the hell out of him for what happened in Denver? Absolutely. The media and Twitter went wild. But there are a few problems with LeBron's thinking here.

1. He did not re-injure the knee that was bothering him. This injury came via a completely different play

What exactly does the media have to do with what Jonathan Kuminga did on that play? If they never said anything, Kuminga doesn't dive like that? I'm not sure that makes any sense.

2. The team does not make players active because of what is said in the media or on Twitter.

This is where I think this topic starts to go off the rails. Everyone knows that the #1 thing for the Sixers this year is to keep Embiid as healthy as possible for the Spring. So if Embiid knew he was hurting, and the team knew he was hurting, I'd say it's more of an issue of how the team has dealt with him vs the media crying about him missing the DEN game.

When Embiid was trying to keep his 30/10 streak alive, he was playing in blowouts where the outcome was pretty much determined. When he went for 70, he came back in and stayed on the floor even when the game was out of reach. Those moments add up, especially for a guy who isn't exactly the poster boy of health.

Not only that, but this all started because the team didn't put Embiid on the injury report prior to the DEN game. Had they done that and he missed it, there's way less uproar. He definitely still gets trolled on social media, but it's different than what we got. Instead, having him active when he was actually hurt is the bigger deal. If he still wasn't right in the GS game, then don't clear him. If the only thing that matters is the playoffs, then who cares about the 65 game limit and the MVP? 

Maybe Nick Nurse should share some of LeBron's blame here? He's the head coach right? You also have to remember what he said before the season too

Is that the media?

This isn't to suggest that people didn't give Embiid shit for missing games or dodging or whatever you want to call it. That definitely happened. But this is a team issue more than a media issue, so I'm not sure how LeBron is coming to the conclusion that Embiid tore his knee because the media said stuff about him not playing. It's on the team to be looking out for their franchise player above all else. Even if he's demanding to play, you need to save him from himself in those moments, reminding him of the bigger picture. You can't say it's all about the playoffs and then throw your franchise player out there when he's compromised. How does that make sense?

In the end, it sucks. That's really all there is to it. It's was unfortunate play that happened to a guy who probably shouldn't have even been out there in the first place, but both the team and the head coach had the power to prevent it. Someone going on TV or writing something isn't why it happened. 

Why LeBron can't see that is anyone's guess.