Get Nervous: Joel Embiid is Back in a Walking Boot

Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

When we talked to Brett Brown last week. He had nothing but great things to say about how Joel Embiid’s rehab was coming along. Embiid’s practicing with Nerlens Noel, running pick and rolls with the coach (above) and even knocking down threes. Or at least he was, because now he’s back in a walking boot.

According to Tom Moore, Embiid was back in a boot yesterday “for protective reasons, not because he’s had real setback.” As Jake Pavorsky astutely observed, walking boots are for injured people, and Embiid’s been out of one for months. If his condition is the same, and he’s still getting better, why is he back in the boot? As Pavorsky says, the boot is “certainly not conducive for a guy who is supposed to be healthy.” It could be nothing. It could be something. But it’s sure as hell making me nervous. This Starts Now at some point.

UPDATE: “Minor setback.”

Goddamnit, Joel. No more flashy dunks.