Joel Embiid Is Destroying Everything In His Path
Embiid is constantly doing things no players have before.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
“He literally can do every single thing,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said of his superstar center Joel Embiid as the team entered the All-Star break. “You know, he’s just an impressive guy and what’s great about him is every year, he adds stuff. He’s still working. He’s not satisfied.”
Embiid stepped onto an NBA floor for the first time at age 22 and was instantly an All-Star-caliber player whenever he was available. Of course, he often wasn’t available for a very long time. But Embiid, in his ninth year in the NBA and seventh season as an active player, has not only become available on a regular basis, but he has become the single best version of himself that anybody could have imagined.
Embiid’s ability to immediately absorb both skills and concepts, often compared by his old coach Brett Brown to a sponge, is what has led him to being the runner-up for NBA MVP in each of the last two seasons.
And here Embiid is, seriously vying for his second straight scoring title as he averages more than 33 points per game, taking every flash we gushed at during his early years and turning them into permanent staples of his game.
This all brings us here: Embiid is considered likely to be the MVP runner-up yet again. And even if he comes up just short behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic, this will be his third consecutive campaign that is without question an MVP-caliber year. That in itself is significant. More than anything, his ability to surprise with a newly-acquired ability every single season is a testament to his hunger for growth.
Once an impressive post-up scorer, Embiid has quickly become the league’s most efficient scorer on post-ups. Once a bouncy young big, he’s bulked up and become one of the NBA’s most physically-imposing players. He’s gone from an impressive mid-range shooter in his early days to virtually unstoppable at the nail, where he does most of his work these days.
But it hasn’t just been glimmers of hope becoming consistent occurrences. Embiid’s turned his weaknesses into strengths. Teams once feasted on his sloppiness against double-teams, now he beats them as a passer. He once became erratic under pressure, he now arguably closes out games as well as any player in the NBA.
But beyond any specific skill, what jumps out most about Embiid’s complete destruction of all opposition in his path is how normal it seems.
On Monday night, Embiid scored 42 points while attempting just 16 field goals. He was a perfect 19-19 from the free throw line, a franchise record for most free throws made in a game without a miss. These are remarkable accomplishments. But all of it felt… regular. Nobody batted an eye, because this is just what he does now. Embiid has played 52 games so far this season, and he’s scored at least 25 points in 47 of them.
Embiid is constantly doing things no players have before. None of it is normal, and yet it frequently feels that way. As Embiid continues to smash any franchise records not held by Wilt Chamberlain, he further cements his standing as one of the greatest talents the NBA has seen in this era.
When asked for his thoughts on Embiid’s torrid stretch, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey repeated his tweet from Tuesday night: “history has its eyes on Joel.”
However, there is a less comfortable side of this story: whether it’s his fault or not, Embiid has yet to break through and achieve noteworthy playoff success. And this upcoming playoff run feels like a make or break point for him: Embiid has solidified himself as an MVP-caliber player, he’s developed a brilliant rapport with his new sidekick -- whose future whereabouts have become the subject of a whole lot of rumors -- and the public will not accept any excuses about an insufficient supporting cast. This year’s team has already exhibited that championship-caliber play is in its range of outcomes.
Embiid has a long way to go both this year and in the long-term -- this sort of praise will ring completely hollow if the Sixers once again fail to get beyond the second round of the playoffs. And, to some extent, it should -- while Embiid’s regular season performance now rivals those of the very best to ever play the game, his postseason resume must soon rival theirs as well.
And so, while you anxiously wait to see if Embiid can finally take the Sixers to their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2001, perhaps it’s worth taking a moment to acknowledge the displays of sheer mastery of basketball you are seeing on a nightly basis.
But make no mistake, the most important work is yet to be done. You only get so many bites at the apple. Time will tell if Embiid is ready for the moment that awaits him.