Too Big To Fail
When he was drafted, he was marked at 7-foot-0 and weighed in at 250 pounds. At last count, he has grown to at least 7-foot-2 inches and weighs approximately 270 pounds. He is ripped and athletic.
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But even more so, he’s healthier than he’s ever been before and he’s been trained in the proper way to use his incredible leverage and strength to avoid future injuries. The only question mark is whether he can take the pounding of the NBA post game.
If you have been a reader, you know we’ve done our best to cover the ins and outs of Joel Embiid.
Joel Embiid Surgery Update III
For a player who has never set foot on the basketball court, we know him as well if not better than virtually any other player. His is personable, approachable, and as down to earth as any young man who finds himself in the NBA. He laughs loud and long, but can buckle down and extract the full content of training like it’s the last cup of coffee from the pot.
He’s more than just a tall body. He has that essence of achievement in him, that commitment to excel, but the humility to await the lauding until he has earned the praise on the basketball court. That is the player Sam Hinkie, a strategist who thought nothing of parting ways with players whose perceived value exceeded his own estimations, poured countless hours supporting and fixing, essentially hiring the brightest mind in the field of sports medicine to oversee in Dr. David T. Martin, and flew countless miles back and forth from Aspetar Clinic in Qatar to ensure his future center would be healthy.
In the end, Joel Embiid is too big to fail, and Hinkie ensured he would not.
Next: How long a Journey