Hey, everybody. Joel Embiid played basketball Tuesday night.
Big deal, right? Well, for the 22-year-old center from Cameroon it actually was.
Those familiar with Embiid know of his constant run of ailments dating back to his one-and-done season at Kansas. A back injury robbed the promising young big man of completing his freshman year on the court with the Jayhawks, and days before he became the third overall pick in the NBA Draft he fractured a bone in his right foot.
Before his preseason debut with Philadelphia, Embiid missed two consecutive seasons due to his foot issues. In total, he went 948 days without appearing in a game.
So, yeah, just playing in an otherwise meaningless exhibition seemed significant for Embiid and the 76ers.
> “At the beginning, I was pretty
> nervous,” Embiid told reporters after
> scoring 6 points, grabbing 4 rebounds
> and blocking 2 shots for the Sixers
> against Boston. “I think I had trouble
> breathing, so it was hard. But once I
> got the first bucket, everything
> started to slow down. I saw the game
> easier. I just felt like I was myself
> again.”
.@JoelEmbiid on NBA debut ⤵️
“It felt great. It was one of my goals and I’m glad I can cross that off my list.” https://t.co/wb5MDKolEj
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 5, 2016
As chronicled by [Keith Pompey of The Inquirer][1], Embiid started for Philadelphia but played on a minutes restriction as the organization eases him into his return to normal life as a basketball player. The big man missed his first three shot attempts before checking out for a breather.
When Embiid returned to the court, he showed off the footwork that so often wowed onlookers when he played for KU before knocking down a fadeaway jumper. Shortly after that, he denied Boston rookie Jaylen Brown at the rim.
> “I thought I did better defensively,”
> Embiid said after shooting 2-for-6 and
> turning the ball over three times.
> “Offensively, that’s going to come.
> But defensively that was one of my
> goals, and I think I did better.”
Sure to become a hit with the media, the gregarious 7-footer said it caught him by surprise when the Celtics’ defense focused on stopping him in the post.
> “I was like, ‘That’s my first game.
> Second quarter,'” Embiid said. “‘Y’all
> really going to double-team, first
> game, second quarter?'”
The Sixers’ starting pivot said he planned to go back and review video from his debut and learn from the situations in which he felt uncomfortable. Head coach Brett Brown didn’t sound too worried about Embiid afterward.
> “In Joel, you see a confidence and a
> swagger,” Brown said [in a Courier
> Times story][2].
Brown and the Sixers’ brass limited Embiid to 12 minutes on his long-awaited launch date. The man who hadn’t played a game since KU traveled to Oklahoma State on March 1, 2014, left wanting more.
> “Honestly, I thought the 12 minutes I
> was going to play I was going to score
> 40 points,” Embiid joked (presumably).
Felt great being back out there… Now we don’t have the same amounts of points and minutes ha #TrustTheProcess pic.twitter.com/xhrSEgjAVO
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 5, 2016
[1]: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20161005_Embiid_looks_strong_in_debut_as_Sixers_beat_Celtics.html
[2]: http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/columnists/tom-moore/moore-encouraging-start-for-sixers-embiid-saric/article_002e31ae-f2b2-543d-9d68-33785de489c6.html
