Joel Embiid is tired of the criticism.

The Philadelphia 76ers center has not yet made his debut for the 2024-25 season using what the team calls left knee management, and he calls bullshit on those who say otherwise.

“I broke my face twice. “I came back early with the risk of losing my vision,” Embiid told reporters on Friday. “…If I see people saying, ‘He doesn’t want to play,’ then I’ve done way too much for this city and put myself at risk of people saying that. I really think this is bullshit… I’ve done way too much for this damn city to be treated like this.”

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have led the nationwide chorus of criticism against Embiid.

Embiid directly mentioned Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in Friday’s press conference after Hayes called the center “the least reliable superstar in the history of the game” in a scathing column.

According to ESPN, Embiid participated in five-on-five games this week, although he is expected to miss his fifth straight game against the Grizzlies on Saturday.

Warning: Graphic language

The former NBA MVP, who has battled numerous lower-body injuries over his 10-year career, said his return to the court will depend on whether he can “trust” his bad right knee, but he expects it “pretty much.” to play soon”.

“I think it’s about being comfortable and confident,” Embiid said. “I want to do my best. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m afraid that if I do that I might do something… Mentally I just have to fight to regain that trust. “

Earlier this week, the 76ers were fined $100,000 for making “inconsistent” statements about Embiid’s health early in the season.

Embiid was sidelined for the 76ers’ first four games, although he played a key role in Team USA’s gold medal win at the Paris Olympics over the summer.

With Embiid and free agent signing Paul George, who is also dealing with a knee injury, out, the NBA title hopefuls 76ers are 1-3.

After being drafted No. 3 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, Embiid missed the first two seasons of his career due to injury and made his debut in 2016.

Since then, Embiid has only played in 433 of a possible 805 regular season games.