Jake Fischer Latest: Inside the 76ers' waiting game for Joel Embiid

A lengthy look at the many challenges Philadelphia faces, as well as the Sixers' limited options, makes for difficult but necessary reading

Even a double-take was insufficient. This required another glance to triple-confirm what had stopped me in my tracks as I climbed the lower bowl inside American Airlines Center. 

Amid a scramble to find my seat before Game 4 of last June's NBA Finals — I wasn't furnished with courtside accommodations in Dallas like a certain older Substacker we know — I spotted Joel Embiid. There was Embiid right next to Paul George. There were Embiid and George, side by side, as part of ESPN’s in-arena studio setup.

What in the world?

Embiid would famously go on to side-eye George on live television when referencing the possible additions that 76ers president of basketball Daryl Morey could target in free agency. George defected from the LA Clippers in short order. How long ago that all seems now, when in truth it has only been a matter of months, with Philadelphia mired in such a nightmare campaign even after actually getting George.

Embiid's uncertain playing status, in particular, hangs over the entire Delaware Valley like a dark cloud. The most conclusive update that can be shared: