Update: despite a nagging foot injury, Joel Embiid will start in the All-Star Game

Joel Embiid intends to suit up for the All-Star Game, per the latest report.

There was some speculation that he may skip the Salt Lake City festivities. After a recent win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Embiid admitted that he had put off doctor’s suggestions to take a couple of weeks off and that he’d been trying to make it to this break to log some rest.

“I’m not sure, I’m not healthy,” Embiid said when asked about starting in the All-Star Game last week. “I haven’t been healthy for the past three weeks or month, I was just trying to get to the All-Star break without missing games and stuff. I feel like I’ve reached the point where I really need to follow the doctor’s advice and miss, back then he said I should have been sitting for two weeks. Going to see how the next few days go and go from there.”

As PhillyVoice’s Kyle Neubeck put it after their 118-112 win over the Cavs “it doesn’t sound like a man ready to give it a go this Sunday in Salt Lake City.”

But according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, reporting Saturday, Embiid wasn’t there for the practice in Utah but he did intend to head out and play Sunday.

The way Pompey put it in his piece “Joel Embiid sitting out the NBA All-Star Game would benefit both him and the Sixers,” which is how many fans feel.

Our Paul Hudrick also advocated for a conservative approach.

Fans are absolutely desperate to see this superstar healthy for the stretch run and playoffs. If rest is what his foot needs than rest is what he should prioritize.

But Sunday evening, hours before tip off, Pompey dropped the news bomb on us:

Superstar careers are short. And this is a rare honor. It’s hard to fault Joel for wanting to give it a go, and show the 4.9M fans who voted for him a move or two. Maybe he has a wink-wink deal in place with his coach to play sparingly. One more reason to tune in this evening. Mac McClung sure made Saturday night worth watching.