Should Joel Embiid call it quits this season? Looking at all that ails, it’s a fair question.

Should Joel Embiid just opt out of this season?

Should the 76ers center focus on healing his left knee and right sinus fracture, while getting in the right mindset?

These are fair questions to ask about the seven-time All-Star for a franchise that has lost the city to the Eagles and Phillies and lost a legitimate chance at an NBA championship because of injuries and an aging roster.

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With 32.9% of the season completed, the Sixers (10-17), sit in 12th place in the 15-team Eastern Conference. If they’re lucky, they look like a team headed for a second consecutive appearance in the play-in tournament, seemingly destined for another early-round exit.

And with a top-six protected first-round draft pick that they’ll likely lose, they might not be better next season without a healthy Embiid in the right state of mind.

That leads us back to the two questions Embiid and the organization’s executives should be asking, despite Monday’s 111-106 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the seventh win in 10 games.

Is it best for Embiid to continue playing this season? Does he really want to keep being put in positions that could destroy his fun-loving image and, most importantly, his health?

Embiid was ejected with 2 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter after picking up two technical fouls.

The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder received the first technical for arguing with referee Jenna Schroeder after being called for an offensive foul. He received his second technical — and ejection — from Schroeder while becoming agitated and following her around the court. Embiid had to be restrained by teammates, coaches, and staff members.

This has been a trying season for the 2023 NBA MVP.

This was just his eighth game this season. He has missed 19 games because of left knee swelling, a three-game suspension, and, most recently, a sinus fracture.

Embiid wasn’t available for comment following Monday’s contest. But he had mentioned in the preseason and earlier this month that the past few months have been “depressing.”

The knee swelling is “something that hasn’t been figured out,” he told ESPN on Dec. 8. “And it’s been extremely annoying because I would love to play every single day.”

Embiid knows what he’s usually able to do on a court, and he realizes he can’t consistently perform at that elite level right now.

That could fester on a player and put them in a bad mental state. Under those circumstances, it’s easy for someone to lash out at people over something they would have shrugged off in the past.

And there’s a lot to lash out about.

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Embiid missed the entire preseason and first six games because of left knee management. After that, he served a three-game suspension for an off-the-court altercation. Then on Nov. 18, the Sixers held a team meeting after a road loss to the Miami Heat. During the meeting, Tyrese Maxey reportedly called Embiid out for being late “for everything” and how that impacted the locker room.

Then following the Nov. 20 game at the Memphis Grizzlies, he missed seven straight games with left knee swelling and/or personal reasons. In his second game back, Embiid didn’t return after suffering his sinus fracture in the second quarter of the Dec. 13 home game against the Indiana Pacers.

On Monday, he was ejected.

Who knows what Embiid is experiencing? He’s in the midst of one of his worst seasons. Embiid averaged 32.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.6 blocks during the past three seasons. During those seasons, he shot a combined 52.5% — including 36.1% on three-pointers.

This season, he’s averaging 20.6 points, a career-low 6.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks and 4.1 assists. Embiid is shooting career lows of 41.7% from the field and 21.2% on three-pointers.

It’s unlikely that he’ll extend his consecutive streak of All-Star selections to eight. Having missed 19 games, Embiid already is disqualified from receiving regular-season awards like MVP and All-NBA.

Yet, he and the Sixers believe they can turn this season around.

“Listen, I’m not very overjoyed with where we are right now, right?” coach Nick Nurse said before Monday’s game. " I mean, you can’t be. Yeah, there’s been 101 lineups and 101 guys in and out and all that stuff. That’s one thing, but, again, I get encouraged by the way I think Paul [George is] moving and stuff. Much better than he was earlier in the season, athletically. Encouraged that Joel’s back and playing. Again, his last game [against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday] — moving and looking like he’s feeling better.”

While Embiid’s 34-point, nine-assist outing was impressive, it came against the woeful and depleted Hornets. He did, however, record a season-high 35 points and 11 rebounds in a Nov. 20 road loss to the Western Conference’s third-place Grizzlies, concluding a stretch of three games in eight days.

But he’s only played in four games since.

So, a big uncertainty is how his body will respond to playing several games over an extended stretch.

On Sept. 19, the 30-year-old was signed to a three-year, $192.9 million extension that will keep him under contract through the 2028-29 season.

If his knee continues to swell, it might be better off to shut him down to rest and preserve his knee for the remainder of his career. It might even eliminate the type of outbursts we saw Monday night.