Joel Embiid is fired up for his Sixers debut
The 76ers are planning to restrict Joel Embiid's playing time. And on Thursday, he didn't even participate in the team's training camp sessions. But there will be some anticipation surrounding the 7-foot-2, 276-pounder in Tuesday's preseason opener against Boston at the University of Massachusetts' Mullins Center.
The 76ers are planning to restrict Joel Embiid's playing time. And on Thursday, he didn't even participate in the team's training camp sessions. But there will be some anticipation surrounding the 7-foot-2, 276-pounder in Tuesday's preseason opener against Boston at the University of Massachusetts' Mullins Center.
It will be Embiid's first game since March 1, 2014, when he was a Kansas freshman playing at Oklahoma State. The Sixers selected the Cameroonian star third overall in the 2014 draft. But he was sidelined for the last two seasons after two surgeries on his right foot.
"I just can't wait for tomorrow," Embiid said Monday after practice at the team's facility on the Camden waterfront.
March 1, 2014, "that's almost three years," Embiid added. "That's a long time. But I've been through a lot of stuff. To get here, I worked my [butt] off.
"I'm happy that I'm finally here."
He had bone-graft surgery to repair the navicular bone in his right foot in August 2015. The former Kansas standout already had missed what would have been his rookie season after undergoing surgery in June 2014 to repair a stress fracture in the same bone. A setback in his recovery led to the second operation.
Despite the layoff and the rust associated with it, Embiid is expected to start against the Celtics. The Sixers have not disclosed how many minutes he'll play, but he will be restricted. Coach Brett Brown said he wants to see a carryover from what the 22-year-old has been doing at practice. Embiid is trying to shake off the rust.
"I want to watch him just run a floor," Brown said. "To watch him make multiple trips up a floor in a 76ers uniform, I don't care if it's preseason, regular season or whatever. For me personally, that's something that we've all waited for, for a while.
"There's just going to be a tremendous amount of pride with what he's done."
Knowing that he was hours away from playing in an actual game, Embiid had a smile on his face and a bounce in his step at the practice facility. He was fully engaged with what was going on and welcomed the coaching.
The Sixers believe he has a chance to become a wonderful teammate and an amazing leader on the team.
That's because Embiid has not been afraid to speak his mind. And because of his towering presence, he has able to speak it with a little more sting. Brown also believes the big man's talent will make people listen to his words more than in general.
"I think there's a leader emerging amongst what I'm seeing," Brown said, "as well as what I think can be an exceptional player."
But for now, Embiid is looking forward to going up against players from another team. There's a good chance that he'll pair up against Celtics center Al Horford on Tuesday.
He will use the opportunity to learn how opposing players will try to guard him. Embiid also wants to figure out ways to defend them.
"So going into tomorrow, I just want to learn as much as I can," he said. "I know I'm going to be on a minutes restriction. But the little time I have on the court, I just want to learn everything I can."
@PompeyOnSixers