Joel Imbiid has spent the past two seasons on the sideline because of a foot injury that required two surgeries. For two seasons he watched the Philadelphia 76sers suffer a losing record. For two seasons, he worked his way up towards playing his first NBA game. Because of everything he went through, Imbiid has been dubbed as 'The Process' and he has embraced that nickname with open arms.
Now that he's finally healthy and has played through 11 games in the 2016-17 NBA season so far, Joel Imbiid has to endure 'The Process' some more. There is no doubt he makes the 76ers better when he's on the floor but right now he's still on a 24-minute restriction and he's being rested when they have back-to-back games.
Imbiid has played well whenever he got the chance to step on the court. He is averaging 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in 22.6 minutes per game. He has shown that he can be dominant when he wants to. He's a special 7-footer who can handle the ball, has a solid mid-range game, has a smooth footwork, and is a high energy guy.
However, foot injuries have ended careers or have slowed down talented big men in the past. Greg Oden, Yao Ming, Arvydas Sabonis, Jermaine O'Neal, Bill Walton, and Brook Lopez are some of the talented big men that have been plagued with foot injuries. Even his teammates Nerlens Noel and Ben Simmons have also been sidelined with a foot injury.
Imbiid has shown patience in 'The Process' but in their double overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, 'The Process' got the best of him. The 76ers staff allowed him to play three more minutes past his minute's restriction. By the end of the first overtime, he had already logged 27:10 minutes. The 76ers medical staff decided to not play him although he was playing well and it was clear that they needed him if they wanted to win that game. The medical staff stuck with their decision and it frustrated him.
He kicked the chairs on the 76sers bench and clearly wanted to play in the second overtime. The 76ers went on to lose the 104-99 and Imbiid soon realized the medical staff did what they did out of necessity. "It was frustrating but those guys care about me and are looking out for me," Imbiid said.
The 76sers will not re-evaluate the minute's restriction of Imbiid until Christmas. And since they are not with a 'win now' situation, an increase in his playing is not guaranteed. He'll just have to endure 'The Process' a little longer.