Joel Embiid doesn't want to enter next season not knowing what it's like to play in games on back-to-back nights.
Unfortunately, the schedule will probably prevent him from getting his wish.
"I wouldn't want to come into next season without seeing what it's like playing back-to-backs," Embiid told ESPN Radio Thursday in New Orleans. "Hopefully at some point this season I start playing back-to-backs."
It's unlikely he'll get the chance because the Sixers have only four back-to-backs left this season and two are in the next two weeks. Based on how careful the Sixers have been with Embiid, there is a zero percent chance they allow him to play back-to-back nights on Feb. 24-25 or March 3-4.
The Sixers' other two back-to-backs are March 19-20 and March 28-29. Those would be more realistic, but we still don't even know when Embiid is returning, much less what the Sixers' plan is for him the final few weeks of the season.
Embiid's request makes sense, though. It's the same concept as wanting to see how Ben Simmons fits with other Sixers this season so you have an idea of what to expect next year.
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But Embiid, who's missed 14 of the Sixers' last 15 games, is not worried about the condition of his left knee.
"Right now, I'm not worried, it's a bone bruise," he said. "They talked about a meniscus, but I'm being treated for a bone bruise. The goal is for me to be asymptomatic and when that happens, I'll be back on the court."
Just probably not two nights in a row.
