Philadelphia 76ers bet NBA centers reemerge in importance
By Bret Stuter
Centers return thanks to… medical advances?
The Philadelphia 76ers have gone the opposite route towards building a center-focused team. So far? Mixed results. The team drafted center Nerlens Noel in 2013. Surprisingly, the team went back to the well to draft a center in Joel Embiid in 2014. And then, as if by thumbing their nose at the NBA, the team drafted a center in Jahlil Okafor in 2015.
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And so far, all three have had significant medical concerns. Have the Philadelphia 76ers really become so naive, or do they know something the rest of the NBA has not quite tracked down yet?
Perhaps a little of both.
76ers decide time to invest in medical science
It didn’t start out that way. It was simply a byproduct of the buy-low and sell-high principal. But after the team learned that Joel Embiid’s foot required a second surgery, all bets were off. And that meant an upgrade like the NBA had not seen before.
The team brought Dr. David T. Martin aboard to help oversee the care for Joel Embiid. Then, the team shipped a rehabbing Embiid overseas to Aspetar Clinic in Doha, Qatar to help get Embiid’s recovery on the right track. When Embiid revisited Aspetar Clinic, we covered the rehab program and the services provided. In short, the 7-foot-2 76ers center had to relearn how to operate his body efficiently on the basketball court.