Philadelphia — Joel Embiid is trying to believe in the good that can come from asking for help. Embiid’s career has been a biography full of devastating injuries that can heal with time, producing MVPs and even more DNPs.
Ask the most casual 76ers fan and they’ll give you the CliffsNotes version of Embiid’s injury timeline. Broken foot bones, grotesquely dislocated fingers that left him resembling a bent straw, and a torn meniscus in his right knee. A torn ligament in his thumb, a bout of Bell’s palsy, and even his latest ailment — a ruptured sinus — have led him to call upon the media hordes. Block the camera light due to sensitivity to brightness on the face.
Embiid performed Friday night wearing a carbon graphite mask straight from the “Phantom of the Opera” props department. He needed protection to protect his face from another errant elbow, another sudden strike. This could have forced him into the kind of extended absence that would define his ill-fated career.
A 7-footer with the wingspan to unleash two Liberty Bells and a knack for knocking down spot-up 3s, Embiid’s presence in the lineup separates the Philadelphia 76ers from a playoff team and a title contender to a drowning team. That’s it. NBA rankings.
He feels pressured. He understands the difficulties.
Selected by the 76ers with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Embiid has carried Philly’s expectations and more, along with injuries that have kept him from being heralded as anything other than MVP in 2023. Because one of the NBA’s greatest players has come to admit that the cracks in his mental health can no longer be ignored.
So the Cameroonian, who once never believed in seeking help from others, has, over time, gone all-in on treatment, like elite athletes Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka and retired swimmer Michael Phelps, shaking off the stigma of this once taboo treatment. decided. He has to navigate a turbulent period in his professional career.
“When you get to a point where it’s hard not to feel bad about yourself, especially when you know who you are and what you can accomplish, but it doesn’t seem like it,” Embiid said. “One lesson I’ve learned is to stop feeling bad about myself and try to live one day at a time. “I have good people around me, stay positive and don’t focus on the negative.”
Embiid has spoken publicly about feeling depressed on the shelf over the past year. He has been sidelined for two NBA seasons, leaving much to recover, rehab and even rest. And this season was no different.
Embiid brings along a homegrown sidekick in All-Star Tyrese Maxey and nine-time All-Star Paul George to form a Big Three of sorts expected to challenge Boston, New York and Cleveland for Eastern Conference supremacy.
While all three players were struggling with injuries, they started and finished both games this season.
Embiid dropped 34 points while suffering from headaches and dizziness and led the 76ers past Charlotte on Friday night with a win that completed a 4-0 sweep of the season over the Hornets and kept the 76ers’ record at a meager 9-16 overall.
“He makes the game really easy.” George said. “A lot of those were plays where we were out of sync. “The more we’re on the court, the more we’ll get it.”
The question arises again around the NBA. What could the 76ers have accomplished if Embiid was always healthy enough to play 80 games per season?
As is the norm for Embiid, the two-time scoring champion will sit out Saturday’s second game in a row in Cleveland.
“As long as I get better every day, I’ll be fine,” Embiid said.
That’s a modest goal, as Embiid is trying to make his days until he feels close to 100 percent come playoff time, using the word “manageable.”
His candor in admitting he needs therapy belies the 30-year-old’s public persona, who likes to play the role of a troll poking at rivals in the locker room and on social media. Embiid, who signed a $193 million contract extension ahead of the season, relied on his wife and young son to get through the difficult times.
Embiid is the 20-something big brother on the team to Maxey and rookie Jared McCain, and this season he finally has a friendly ally in George, a fellow Olympic gold medalist whose career was halted by a devastating injury.
“You can never have enough support,” Embiid said. “Honestly, when you have the support of your family, people close to you, teammates, guys like (George), that’s why you want to keep doing this and keep finding out. . That’s who you play. People who care about you, people who support you, people who push you. I have a hard time letting people down. It’s hard to feel bad about yourself when you have that kind of support. I love pleasing people. You just have to keep going.”
Please continue.
Now it’s all about Embiid finding happiness on the court and in his personal life and finding peace through therapy.
Even if your physical condition takes longer to heal, you can at least improve your mental state.
“It’s a work in progress. “We’ll see if it works. If you get to a point where nothing’s working, I’m always going to try something and see if it works,” Embiid said.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
