"I'd rather retire" - Joel Embiid bluntly rejects Pacers $48,924,624 guard's desperate recruitment effort during Olympics

Joel Embiid played for Team USA during the 2024 Paris Olympics and was teammates with Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. Apparently, Hali tried to recruit the Philadelphia 76ers star into joining him on the Pacers.

In a clip from the Netflix series "Court of Gold," which centered around the Paris Olympics basketball tournament, Haliburton casually offered Joel Embiid to play for the Pacers, and the 76ers star bluntly rejected his offer.

“Never in my life, I’d rather retire,” Embiid told Haliburton when he asked him to join the Pacers.

Haliburton, who makes an average of $48,924,624 per season over his five-year contract, didn't take no for an answer and still asked the big man to at least have dinner with him and hang out at his place the next time Philly faced Indiana.

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Joel Embiid contemplating another knee surgery

It's been tough being a Philadelphia 76ers fan as of late due to the consistent absence of Joel Embiid. So far this season, Joel has only played in 17 games. This is due to the nagging knee injury that he's dealing with.

With the star big man out, the Sixers have struggled significantly in the Eastern Conference. Philly is currently in 11th place with a 20-34 record and went on a five-game losing streak heading into the All-Star break.

Due to the current circumstances, Joel Embiid is considering undergoing knee surgery this coming offseason. Back on February 9, the Philadelphia 76ers went up against the Milwaukee Bucks. Damian Lillard and the Bucks defeated the Sixers, 135-127. Embiid played well, posting a double-double performance. He added 27 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

During a postgame interview, reporters asked Embiid if another surgery was necessary.

“There’s not much to say,” Embiid said. “I mean, the straightforward answer is when you’ve got something that’s inconsistent, at some point we’ve got to do something about it. We don’t know what it is. We are looking into every option … at some point.”

Embiid has already had multiple procedures done after tearing the meniscus in both knees. He has had to deal with knee swelling as a result of these injuries, and it remains to be seen if more surgery can help solve that recurring problem.