Joel Embiid is a competitor, he doesn’t like being told he needs to sit out a game for rest.
What he likes less is missing 39 games during the regular season, not being healthy for the playoffs, and getting bounced in the first round despite an epic effort through a sore knee. He doesn’t like always battling through nagging injuries in the postseason and never getting past the second round.
Which is why he is open to the idea of missing half of a back-to-back or sitting other nights for load management this season — just don’t expect him to go quietly. Here is what Embiid said with a laugh about forcing him to rest this season, from 76ers training camp in the Bahamas, as reported by Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“It’ll be tough… They know that if they have to punch me, slap me, take my stuff away from me [to] not to get on that court, they’re going to have to do it. I might get mad, I might curse people out, but I think it’s a relationship. We’ve been working together for years now. Now I look at the big picture, and I’ve always listened to them, but now it’s even more of the time where I should listen and see what they have to say.”
That echoes what Embiid said Monday at Philadephia media day, via NBC Sports Philadelphia.
“(President of basketball operations Daryl Morey) would tell you this: As soon as we lost last year, I texted him and I was like, ‘We’ve got to do whatever it takes to make sure that, in the postseason, I’m healthy.’
“This year, there’s no agenda — All-Star, All-NBA, there’s none of that. It’s whatever it takes to make sure that I get to that point and I’m ready to go. For basically every single year of my career, I’ve been hurt in the playoffs. I think that’s the goal. It’s all about doing whatever it takes to get there. Physically, I’m OK. I’m not where I want to be, and I know I’ve got their support and they all want the same thing. Until I’m at that point where they feel like I’m ready to go, I’m sure they’re going to hold me back. Like I said, the focus is on whatever it takes to get to that stage and be healthy. I believe, with the guys that we have and what I can bring to the table, we have a pretty good chance.”
With the addition of Paul George on the wing next to home-grown star Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia is a legitimate threat to dethrone Boston in the East, but it all hinges on getting Embiid and George to the playoffs healthy. That Embiid is willing to forgo chasing postseason awards — which means playing in at least 65 games — to be healthy for a postseason push shows his commitment to winning. He also stated that he dropped 25-30 pounds this season.
Those are good signs for 76ers fans dreaming of their team playing in late May and maybe June. It should be noted that Embiid qualifies under the league’s “player participation policy” that states the 76ers can’t sit him for rest for nationally televised or NBA Cup games (although, by a month into the season every player in the league has enough bumps and bruises they could be sat for medical reasons for a game if the team really wants to). That policy includes the 65-game rule for postseason awards that Embiid says he is willing to ignore.
It’s preseason, everyone is optimistic and saying the right things. Embiid is saying all the right things about the playoffs. Before that time, however, Philadelphia has a lot of work to do to build chemistry and come together as a championship roster, all while staying healthy. If that means missing games, Embiid gets that now.
