By now we've all seen the image Joel Embiid sent out on his Instagram of Tuesday night, of him wearing a plastic mask.
Embiid is recovering from an orbital bone fracture, and while he might not be ready for Game 1 (see story), it appears he is preparing the mask for when he does get back on the court.
Wearing a clear mask doesn't seem to fit Embiid's normal personality, but he doesn't have much of a choice … during games. The clear mask is all the NBA really allows.
But on 97.5 The Fanatic on Wednesday morning, Sixers president Chris Heck hinted that Embiid might have something up his sleeve. He was asked about the possibility of Embiid wearing a special mask.
"It could be cool. They do it with goalie masks," Heck said. "If memory serves me well, it has to be clear and there can be nothing on it."
"So no Phantom of the Opera mask?" Heck was asked.
"Well, let's just say that that's for in game," he answered. "He's so smart and he's so clever, I wouldn't bet against him on surprising people."
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As Heck mentioned, if Embiid does want to wear a special mask, he'll have to settle for wearing it before games. The NBA doesn't like anything but clear masks during games. In fact, they didn't even let LeBron James continue to use a black mask back in 2014 .
LeBron wore a black carbon-fiber mask to protect his nose in 2014, but the NBA asked him to go back to a more traditional clear mask.
Embiid is anything but traditional, but he'll have to conform to the league's policy once games start. Before then, he might let his personality fly.
