Why does Joel Embiid never play Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in Denver?

Playing in Denver is a mile club Joel Embiid apparently doesn’t want to participate. How else do you explain the fact that he hasn’t played against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets at the Ball Arena for the past FIVE seasons?!

Nikola Jokic vs. Joel Embiid is the definitive big man matchup of this generation, but for one reason or another, Embiid has missed the previous five opportunities to participate in it while in the Mile High City.

This goes back to the 76ers matchup with the Nuggets on March 30, 2021. Embiid sat out this contest with a bruised left knee.

The next was November 18, 2021, when Embiid had to miss due to the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols (remember those?!).

He then did not play on March 27, 2023 due to pain in his right calf.

Next was a “bucky” left knee on January 27, 2024.

And that brings us to the present, and the 76ers’ looming Tuesday night matchup against the Nuggets in Denver. It was recently announced that Embiid has swelling in his left knee and will miss this match likewise.

Injuries have plagued Joel throughout his career, but is there more to the story of why he’s not playing in Denver? Or was it really a series of unfortunate events and accidents?

A lot of athletes have complained about the higher altitude in Denver which leads to a lack of oxygen during games and makes playing there quite a challenge. But Embiid never stated that this was his reasoning.

So what is it then?

Nikola Jokic won the NBA regular season MVP award in three of the past four seasons. And the only year he didn’t win? That of course went to Joel Embiid in the 2022-2023 season.

Jokic vs. Embiid is the only head-to-head matchup between the MVPs in the past four seasons, and there are only two regular-season chances for the two to face each other each year.

With Embiid sitting out Denver five years in a row, that gives viewers just one chance a year to see the preeminent big man go head-to-head (unless, of course, they meet in the Finals one day).

Joel Embiid owes the public — and Nikola Jokic, for that matter — an explanation for why he’s not playing in Denver, as he’s depriving NBA fans of one of the league’s most exciting superstar matchups.