Nearly half of the voters in our Sixers ‘Stay or Go’ poll want Joel Embiid gone. Paul George is doing even worse.
After three straight seasons with Embiid hovering around 90% approval, Sixers fans seem to have turned on him.
After every professional sports season, we ask you, the readers and fans, who you think should stay or go in the offseason.
Sometimes, like with this season’s Eagles, nearly everyone gets high marks. But it’s safe to assume we all knew the numbers for this season’s 76ers team weren’t going to look like that.
Even taking this year’s struggles and injuries into account, the Sixers’ “Stay or Go” results are starting off pretty bleakly for some of the team’s biggest stars. And one player’s approval rating was so jarring, we felt the need to share it sooner rather than later.
After missing most of the 2024-25 season with a knee injury, Joel Embiid clocks in with just 55% of Sixers fans wanting him to stay for 2025-26. Embiid is one of the best players to ever wear a Sixers uniform, and won 2022-23 NBA MVP, but his injury issues continue to pile up.
In our previous polls, Embiid consistently ranked near the 90% marker. Despite his general success and popularity, Embiid was never able to cross the 90% threshold — unlike many of the Eagles and even his own teammate, Tyrese Maxey — and it doesn’t look like that will be changing this year.
Ranking near 50% is uncommon — especially for a player as well-known as Embiid. The most divisive players in 2023 and 2024 were former Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins and Flyers forward Nic Deslauriers, respectively. Good enough players in their own right, but franchise players like Embiid with years left on their contracts don’t usually find themselves near the middle. That’s reflective of everyone’s uncertainty over whether Embiid is capable of returning to his MVP-caliber play.
The Sixers signed Embiid to a four-year contract extension last offseason, and the veteran center’s trade value is low, so in all likelihood, he’ll still be around come the fall.
But the Sixers’ big offseason addition, Paul George, is faring even worse in the poll, with 60% of fans picking him to go. George also struggled with injury issues and ultimately was shut down in March with knee and groin injuries.
Disagree with the results so far? There’s still time to vote in the Stay or Go poll. We’ll be back with a full breakdown of the results next week.