Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid is no stranger to injuries in his career and once again finds himself dealing with a recovery process. The 31-year-old gave an update on that recovery on Friday at the team’s media day, saying he “feels pretty good” and there is a “plan in place” for him to see the court more regularly after being limited to a career-low 19 games last season.
Embiid, who had knee surgery in April, did not give an exact timeline for his return other than saying his progress is “on schedule,” but did give Sixers fans hope for his availability going forward.
“The goal is to play consistently and not be in the position we were last year,” Embiid, a seven-time All-Star, said. “Everybody that knows me knows I want to play. I want to play every single game. I’ve been pretty unlucky when it comes to that compared to most NBA players.”
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While the goal is obviously to be on the court, Embiid isn’t going to force playing time if he’s not feeling right.
“I want to be as honest as possible. I think going forward we’re just going to listen to the body,” Embiid said. “I’ll be honest and say it’s going to be unpredictable at times, and that’s OK. We’re going to work with that. You got to take it day by day. We’re on the right path. If there’s something that happens, it’s OK. Focus on fixing it and keep going. That’s my mentality.”
Embiid acknowledged he’s entering this season in a better place mentally than a year ago after playing only 58 regular-season games combined over the past two years.
“I’ve had so many injuries,” Embiid said. “The one thing I’ve always told myself is you can’t give up. No matter what comes, you got to get back up and keep pushing through. I’m excited to keep progressing.”
Paul George also eyeing return for 76ers
The 76ers are dealing with multiple injuries to key players. Paul George, who had a procedure on his left knee this summer, said he doesn’t expect to participate in training camp. At this point, George said he doesn’t have any swelling and is doing “pretty much everything but full contact.”
“The next couple of weeks is very important, leading into the season, start of the season, all of that stuff,” George said. “All I can do is just focus on doing that day after day, taking it one day at a time. I think I will be at a good place earlier than later, but just as far as my body, I do feel better, I do feel good, a lot better than I did last year, which is saying a lot. I was dealing with a lot last year, trying to play through a lot of stuff, which I just couldn’t get over the hump.”
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Last season, Philly finished 24-58 and 13th in the Eastern Conference, while the 35-year-old George battled multiple injuries.
“Can’t get no worse than last year. That was a rock bottom type of season,” George said.
George, a nine-time All-Star, discussed his willingness slide over power forward, something he wasn’t as open to doing in the past.
“If you asked me about this 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have been a fan of it,” George said. “Today’s game, there’s not real fours like there used to be. And at this point in my career, let the young guys go out and play the wing positions. I know where I’m at in my career, I can adjust and play at the four spot, give extra ballhandling on the floor, better spacing. I’m very comfortable playing at the four spot this year.”
The 76ers will hold practice this weekend in New Jersey and then head to the United Arab Emirates for two preseason games in Abu Dhabi.