Brandon Apter (@bapter23), Managing Editor
It's weird to think that throughout this whole Joel Embiid "saga", we haven't heard the guy speak even once. The Sixers 2014 draft pick has gone from lazy in recovery last year to hitting the weights/shirley temple's hard and being more mentally committed this season. The last few weeks, Embiid has been doing practice drills without his walking boot, showing signs that he's coming along nicely in his recovery. Here's a recent video from the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey, showing Embiid doing a drill following practice.
Joel Embiid in a post-practice drill. #Sixers pic.twitter.com/wYaFxWmxCr
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) December 21, 2015
Embiid, on a different workout schedule from his team, was on the court yesterday with his teammates and head coach Brett Brown commented on his work ethic and his recovery thus far.
“He’s doing well,” head coach Brett Brown said after practice. “He’s on a different schedule that’s created to sort of keep his mood and spirit up. We don’t force him to be in front of us every second of his life. We love seeing him as much as we can. It’s good to see him.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Brown goes on to speak about Joel's change in mental state from last year, when critics called the Kansas alum lazy in his recovery. This time around, the Sixers staff has noticed that Embiid has a better mindset towards his road back to the court. On the practice floor yesterday, Joel was seen shooting some corner three's, a variety of mid range shots as well as a half-court shot here and there, in between joking with staff and heckling his teammates.
“Mentally, [Embiid is] leaps and bounds,” Brown said. “Physically, what I see, he’s just a committed, hopeful athlete. He sees he’s doing the right thing and he feels like he’s doing the right thing. And he is. I just see somebody who just has that edge where he wants to get going.
“It’s night and day talking with him this time from December last year.” [CSNPhilly.com]
As the Sixers look to improve on their defense and overall play at 1-28, Embiid's teammates have taken plenty of notice to his eagerness to get back on the court and contribute to this rebuild process next season, when the team could have a whole batch of new players that include the likes of Dario Saric and a high first-round pick, hopefully LSU's Ben Simmons.
"He's in great spirits," guard Isaiah Canaan said. "He's glad to be back on the court, for sure. I know he's ready for that to be over with so he can finally play the game that he loves to play. We're looking forward to getting him back." [The Intelligencer]
Philadelphia will look to put a spark back in their play tonight as they host the Memphis Grizzlies for their final home game of 2015. Jahlil Okafor gets another test, matching up against Memphis big-man Marc Gasol. Tip-off is scheduled for 7PM on CSN.
