Embiid's appearance was limited to only 58 games over the last two seasons.
Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid opened up on his injury struggles and said that he is solely focused on one goal- to play consistently. The star center who was awarded the NBA MVP for his heroics in the 2022-23 season has had his career marred by multiple injuries. Over the last two seasons, his appearance was limited to just 58 games.
Last season, he played only 19 games and underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April. He had another surgery on the same knee in February 2024. Needless to say, his struggles along with those of Paul George, affected the Philadelphia 76ers, and they finished 13th in the East with a terrible 24-58 win-loss record in the last season.
However, the 31-year-old is doing well in his recovery phase, and said that there is a “plan in place” for him to see the court more regularly. While Embiid didn’t share the exact timeline for his return, he suggested that his progress is “on schedule”.
“I feel pretty good. We made a lot of progress over the last couple months. We got a plan in place…Everything is on schedule…There’s not necessarily an expectation.”
Talking about his injury struggles, the seven-time NBA All-Star said that he has been “pretty unlucky when it comes to that compared to most NBA players.” However, he added, “The goal is to play consistently and not be in the position we were last year.”
Embiid also acknowledged that he enters the upcoming season in a better place mentally than a year ago. “I’ve had so many injuries,” the 7-foot star said during the 76ers’ Media Day. “The one thing I’ve always told myself is you can’t give up. No matter what comes, you got to get back up and keep pushing through. I’m excited to keep progressing.”
One thing that Joel Embiid has never shied away from talking about is his mental health. The Yaoundé-born has always been subjected to criticism for his injury related struggles, but he has overcome them every single time. Needless to say, the physical struggles along with the outside noise do impact one’s mental health negatively. Embiid, too, faces these issues. However, he recently talked about it, and revealed that he is doing better mentally as compared to last year.
“Mentally, I feel better. I got great people around me,” said Embiid. “That’s all that matters. They keep me up. Keep staying positive and, obviously, it helps that we’re in a different situation than a year ago this time right before training camp. So, it’s a good start and, yeah. Just gotta keep going.”
He also talked about his playing style and revealed whether he would bring in a change in it. “That’s tough,” Embiid stated. “I mean, I think about it, but then again, you can’t get out of all I know is—ever since I started—was to play hard. Play both ends. There’s a lot of people in the league that play one side. Whether it’s offense or defense and a lot of times, for me, my mentality is do whatever it takes to win. For all of my career, it’s been having to do both.”
Embiid recently participated in the team’s practice session for some time on Saturday. During the session, he also hit a half-court shot and worked on his shooting skills. Notably, the 76ers will move to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for two preseason games in Dubai. They will be up against the New York Knicks in their first two preseason encounters on October 1, and October 3 at the Etihad Arena.
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