Anatomy Of Joel Embiid

When can we cheer?

Welcome back to the “don’t tech talk me to death” folks!  To those who braved the last slide with me, I salute you.  Now, back to the matter at hand…

To say that the most recent trip is simply a very accountable team showing extreme responsibility to their marquis player is probably the most accurate answer from what we know right now.  But that’s as mysterious as it gets.   There are many pitfalls to the rehabilitation of a tall young man in a very demanding sport trying to re-inflate a flat tire.   The team simply wants to be certain they get it as correct as possible.

Suffice it to say that Dr. David T. Martin is very focused on the first NBA player’s health for which he is responsible.  Since Martin’s arrival on this team, he has been overseeing one of the most publicly followed medical case in modern history.  As such, he is being as cautious as new parents are with their first infant.

But even after the medical team signs off on the NBA prospect, there is a matter of over two years time.  Joel Embiid stopped participating in organized basketball play on the court on March 11, 2014.  Since that time, it has been gymnasium shooting drills, rehabilitation, and mentally following the game of basketball as best as he can.

Rust is bound to happen.

But that shouldn’t translate into pessimism either.  Not with perennial optimist head coach Brett Brown on the loose:

"“We got the third pick (in the 2014 draft). I’m sitting there and Sam Hinkie said Joel Embiid has been injured and there’s a chance he will fall to three,” Brown recalled. “You step back and get a little excited. I felt what I saw was special and unique. Seeing the skill package of such a young big man, he hadn’t even played that much. Big people develop late, 28-32. Look at that time range for the development of a big man. See the competitiveness and skill package. Zoom in. I think Jerry Colangelo said it best — that’s a high-class problem. Joel coming back will be a challenge in that he hasn’t played basketball for two years. For us to expect immediate results would be naïve. I say that because inevitably there will be minute restrictions with what we expect. How they (Embiid, Noel, Okafor) co-exist is ever present. It’s the most asked question I get. And how long is it going to take? I answer it freely that way because it’s the truth. Time as it unfolds will better direct us.”"

And so, the reality is that even as he comes back to us healthy, we have no way of knowing what we get. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it means that the powers that be will not make any moves in the front court for now. That means Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel have a new lease on life together for next season, until the team can sort out which of the pair can play better with Joel Embiid.

But this is a Joel Embiid article after all, and with that comes the mandatory youtube footage of a young man with little formal training shooting the lights out with a basketball.  So with no further adieu, let’s roll the tape!

The Philadelphia 76ers are not dependent upon the return of Joel Embiid. Certainly his arrival next season will add to the optimism, and the first time he sets foot onto the court in Philadelphia will most assuredly be standing room only. But as far as the #TrustTheProcess plan? Not dependent at all. What has happened in his off-court career is that the city of Philadelphia has fallen in love with the charismatic Cameroon. It’s just that plain and simple. And with an fan base enamored with the trials and tribulations of a young man who is now over two years of playing the game he loves, there is certainly an entire city hoping for the best for him now.  It’s not hype, although it will be interpreted as such by those unconnected to the team.

It’s simply hoping for the best for him.

Next: Ben Simmons Reportedly Hired An Agent

In the words of Brett Brown:

"“We are going to be doing something that we haven’t done yet,” coach Brett Brown said. “Like I feel like the rebuild as people know it, the severe rebuild as we have known it, those days are done. Now what that place means in a quality of wins, we don’t know. We don’t know who the team is yet. But the path and the plan will take a left turn in a more legitimate way in trying to build it in a more expedited way.” – Brown as interviewed by Keith Pompey at Philly.com"

And so, the young man and an entourage from the Philadelphia 76ers are navigating the perilous journey from recovery to an NBA basketball court.  Eventually, that journey will end up on a basketball court.  Right now,  the basketball court doesn’t hold much joy for the Sixers.  But perhaps it’s the journey of Joel Embiid that will not only bring him to his dream, but will restore the dreams to the city of Philadelphia.   At least, with a story unfolding like this one has, a happy ending only seems fitting, doesn’t it?