PHILADELPHIA:
Joel Embiid is trying to believe in the good that can come from asking for help. Embiid’s career has yielded an MVP – and so many more DNPs – with a biography littered by the kind of devastating injuries that can, in time, heal.
Ask even the most casual 76ers fan, and they can rattle off a CliffsNotes version of Embiid’s injury timeline: The broken bones in his feet, the grotesque dislocated finger that made it resemble a used bendy drinking straw, the torn meniscus in his right knee, the torn ligament in a thumb, a bout with Bell’s palsy, and even his latest ailment – a busted sinus that compelled him to ask a media horde to cut the camera lights because of his sensitivity to the brightness beaming in his face.
Embiid played on Friday night wearing a carbon graphite mask straight out of the “Phantom of the Opera” prop department. He needed the protection to save his face from another errant elbow, another sudden strike, that could thrust him into the kind of prolonged absence that has defined his star-crossed career.
With the seven-footer boasting a wingspan that could stretch a couple of Liberty Bells, his knack for knocking down spot-up 3s, Embiid’s presence in the lineup is all that separates the Philadelphia 76ers from a playoff team and title contender to one drowning in the NBA standings.
He feels the burden. He understands the hardships.
Selected by the 76ers with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Embiid carries the weight of expectations of Philly – and beyond – with him, and the injuries that sidelined the 2023 MVP and have denied him a real shot at being heralded as one of the NBA’s greats have led him to admit the cracks they formed in his mental health was something he could no longer ignore.
So the native of Cameroon who once never believed in seeking help from others had decided over time – much like elite athletes Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and retired swimmer Michael Phelps – to shake the once-taboo stigma of therapy and go all-in on the process to steer him through turbulent times in his professional career.
“It’s kind of hard when you get in those moments where it’s kind of hard not to feel bad about yourself, especially when you know who you are and what you can accomplish but it’s not the way it is,” Embiid said. “One lesson that I learned is to try and stop feeling bad about myself and just live day-by-day. Enjoy good people around me, positivity and not focus on the negativity.”
Embiid has openly talked at times over the last year of feeling depressed from time on the shelf – he was sidelined for two full NBA seasons, and had chunks of so many others recovering, rehabbing, even resting – and this season was no different.
Embiid had his homegrown sidekick in All-Star Tyrese Maxey and nine-time All-Star Paul George along for the ride to form a kind of Big Three expected to challenge Boston, New York and Cleveland for Eastern Conference supremacy.
With all three walloped by injuries, they have played start-to-finish in all of two games this season.
Embiid slogged through headaches and dizziness to drop 34 points and led the 76ers past Charlotte on Friday night in a 108-98 win that completed a 4-0 season sweep against the Hornets and propped the 76ers’ record to a meagre 9-16 overall.
“He does make the game so easy,” George said. “A lot of stuff was just plays we weren’t in sync on. We’ll get that as we’re on the court more.”
The question again is raised around the NBA – what could the 76ers have accomplished had Embiid been healthy enough to always play 80 games a season?
As is the norm with Embiid, the two-time scoring champion sat out the second game of a back-to-back yesterday at Cleveland.
“As long as it gets better every day,” Embiid said, “that’ll be good”.
It’s a modest goal as Embiid tries to make the days – using his word “manageable” – until perhaps it feels close to 100 per cent in time for the playoffs.
It’s all Embiid can do now to find happiness on the court and in his personal life – and find some peace through treatment along the way.
He can at least improve his state of mind, even if the state of his body takes longer to heal.
“It’s a work in progress. We’ll see if it works,” Embiid said. “You get to a point where nothing is working, I’m always willing to try anything and see if it works.”
In other games on Friday night: Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, Darius Garland added 16 and the Cleveland Cavaliers moved to 15-1 at home with a 124-101 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, who played for the first time since winning the NBA Cup; And Jalen Williams scored a season-high 33 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Miami Heat 104-97 for their seventh straight victory.
AP