Sixers’ Joel Embiid is getting little love on social media entering a critical season. Is it warranted?

NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski retired from ESPN on Wednesday, sparking a social media firestorm as readers picked their favorite Woj bomb and journalists wished the veteran reporter farewell.

But that conversation soon shifted to the events and achievements that didn’t happen before Wojnarowski decided to call it a career. Surprisingly, Joel Embiid — and the 76ers at large — failing to make it beyond the second round since 2001 was at the top of the list.

There are a number of reasons Embiid hasn’t made it to the conference finals, including his checkered injury history, Ben Simmons’ decline, and, frankly, the Boston Celtics.

Still, that revelation motivated The Inquirer to look deeper into conversation around Embiid on the internet, as he prepares to enter a crucial season alongside Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.

Embiid averaged 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks last season. Elite numbers. The problem? He played only 39 regular-season games.

So while Embiid has become one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers, questions persist about his place among the great players in his generation. The Ringer’s NBA podcast attempted to tap into that topic, but they might have gone a step too far.

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“He’s just one of the most disappointing players of this generation,” said Michael Pina.

That’s quite a statement. Rather than address it head on, let’s look at a few numbers that show what Embiid has been able to achieve in eight seasons despite missing significant time to injury. Embiid has scored 12,071 points, grabbed 4,832 rebounds, and dished out 1,573 assists. He also has won an MVP, captured two scoring titles, and been named to seven All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams.

But a stat that best displays what Embiid is capable of when available came from StatMuse, which points out that he has scored more points and made more free throws per minute than any player in NBA history. To add some context and credence, Bill Russell is the leader in rebounds, and Stephen Curry is the leader in three-pointers made.

Most observers of the NBA offseason would agree that Daryl Morey did his job. After the Sixers struggled without Embiid in 2023-24, the president of basketball operations entered the summer with pressure to put together a complete roster that could compete in the playoffs. And he delivered.

So now the onus appears to be on Embiid to work with George and Maxey to produce a contender and challenge the Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference. As ESPN’s Tim Legler notes, Embiid has had no problem willing his team to win in the regular season. So it makes sense to extend that expectation to the postseason.

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“Talent’s not a question now; the talent is in place. So for Joel Embiid, the time is now,” Legler said. “You have to be as good for a two-month stretch for the 76ers as you have been in the regular season year after year. He has yet to do that.”

ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins agreed that Embiid faces the most pressure to become an NBA champion. But he added that George isn’t far down the list.

“You know who’s second or third on that list? It’s Paul George,” Perkins said. “And I don’t want to hear about, ‘Oh, he done been to conference finals and he done made his mark in the postseason’ and all that. No, this is about getting to the promised land.”