CAMDEN, N.J. — Joel Embiid is determined to avoid more playoff injury déjà vu.
For many years, Embiid’s default stance on questions about his health was that he’d push to play in just about any circumstance. After yet another season in which he plowed through postseason problems, the Sixers’ 30-year old superstar center appears to have a different perspective.
“I think I lost about 25, 30 (pounds this offseason). I’ve still got a ways to go,” Embiid said Monday at the Sixers’ media day in Camden, New Jersey. “Still want to lose more, but it’s a process. (President of basketball operations Daryl Morey) would tell you this: As soon as we lost last year, I texted him and I was like, ‘We’ve got to do whatever it takes to make sure that, in the postseason, I’m healthy.’
“This year, there’s no agenda — All-Star, All-NBA, there’s none of that. It’s whatever it takes to make sure that I get to that point and I’m ready to go. For basically every single year of my career, I’ve been hurt in the playoffs. I think that’s the goal. It’s all about doing whatever it takes to get there.
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“Physically, I’m OK. I’m not where I want to be, and I know I’ve got their support and they all want the same thing. Until I’m at that point where they feel like I’m ready to go, I’m sure they’re going to hold me back. Like I said, the focus is on whatever it takes to get to that stage and be healthy. I believe, with the guys that we have and what I can bring to the table, we have a pretty good chance.”
Embiid returned last year from a left knee lateral meniscus injury to play five of the Sixers’ final seven regular-season games. He was clearly not at his physical peak in the playoffs, however, dealing with multiple injury scares and an unfortunate case of Bell’s palsy that caused migraines and weakness in the muscles on the left side of his face.
Despite all that, he scored 50 points in the Sixers’ Game 3 win over the Knicks and averaged 33.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.5 blocks in the team’s six-game first-round series loss.
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The Sixers’ hope is that Embiid is both available and a little better in series-deciding moments — fewer costly, tired turnovers; more lift on his late jumpers; no hesitation about what his body’s able to do.
“We’re going to be really smart about this,” Morey said. “We’re focused on April, May, June. It doesn’t mean that the team right now isn’t important as well, but we’re going to be very smart about how we manage him through the season. There’s going to be a lot of information as we learn about how everything’s working with the entire roster.
“But with Joel specifically … we actually have quite a few guys who we think we need to smart about how we manage them through the season while still maintaining a high level of play, and keep the eye on the prize as we do that.”
Embiid’s under contract with the Sixers through the 2028-29 season and has said he wants to spend his whole career in Philadelphia.
For his first full season in his 30s, he’ll have two All-Star teammates in Tyrese Maxey and Paul George.
“We have a lot of new guys, so we’ve got to get everybody on the same page and it’s going to take time,” Embiid said. “There might be growing pains, but I think we’ve got guys that just fit on and off the court. That’s what you need when it comes to team-building and culture. … I feel like my job this year is to empower those guys, especially Tyrese. I think there’s another step he can take and he’s going to take it.
“I’m going to go out there and just let him be the guy because I know at some point, when it comes down to it, he’s going to come in handy. Same thing with Paul and some of the other guys that we added — Caleb (Martin), Guerschon (Yabusele). We added a lot of guys; it feels like we have a brand-new team.”
Though his long-established habit is to draw heaps of free throws, drain mid-range jumpers and generally pile up points, Embiid didn’t emphasize any of that Monday.
“I really have a lot of confidence in these guys to figure it out,” he said, “and for me to just use myself as a decoy to allow them to just be themselves. … As long as we win, it doesn’t matter what the role is and what I did. (Winning) is what matters.”
