Joel Embiid is out tonight for the Pick Swap Bowl against the Sacramento Kings. Though he played against the Houston Rockets on Friday (and played well), he’s missed a couple of games recently not for his usual rest, but for a knee contusion. That’s tonight’s story:

While he’s going to miss some time, Embiid’s knee contusion is unlikely a big issue. Vincent Heck – who is focusing on the science side of the Sixers – laid out as much. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, “returning to your normal sports activity [after a knee contusion] may take several weeks or longer. If you put too much stress on the injured area before it has healed enough, excessive scar tissue may develop and cause more problems.” Embiid played in the Houston game with an extra compression layer over his left knee, but seemed to play comfortably and appeared unaffected. But it brings us to a question many of us don’t want to face: When do we get worried?

The Sixers have, over and over again, failed to be transparent with injuries, to no gain of their own. When Embiid re-injured his foot, they danced around the re-injury, claiming it was a lack of healing. Ben Simmons’ case was very high-profile and handled clearly, but we still have zero context for any kind of timeline or recovery period. Jerryd Bayless is probably the strangest case. He was plagued by “wrist soreness” starting in camp, ended up sitting for the start of the season before playing in a game or two, and then found his way back into a suit on the bench. In the end, he had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist.

I don’t think there’s anything the Sixers are hiding here. Embiid has a sore knee. He’ll heal. But emotions and tensions run high around Joel, and it’s not only because of his injury history. Embiid is a player the likes of which haven’t been seen in this city since Allen Iverson. And to be honest, in the context of the Process, the stated goal of being a championship team, and his astronomical stats, he might have higher expectations than A.I. ever had. I don’t think his knee is anything to be worried about, but when JoJo starts and then keeps missing games due to something other than rest, the Sixers need to jump in front of it and be completely, totally, wholly open. They owe the fans that.