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Sixers embrace Joel Embiid's presence in locker room

WHEN JOEL Embiid made his way into the locker room before the 76ers faced the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, he casually walked to his stall and sat on the undersized stool. Just seconds later, Jerami Grant made his way from his locker spot to Embiid and, without saying a word, wrapped his arms around Embiid's massive shoulders and gave him a hug. It was like a kid seeing his father after a long time away. Embiid reached up and patted one of Grant's arms and the two shared a hearty laugh.

Joel Embiid, a positive presence in the locker room, is working hard to get back on the court next season.
Joel Embiid, a positive presence in the locker room, is working hard to get back on the court next season.Read moreYong Kim / Staff

WHEN JOEL Embiid made his way into the locker room before the 76ers faced the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, he casually walked to his stall and sat on the undersized stool. Just seconds later, Jerami Grant made his way from his locker spot to Embiid and, without saying a word, wrapped his arms around Embiid's massive shoulders and gave him a hug. It was like a kid seeing his father after a long time away. Embiid reached up and patted one of Grant's arms and the two shared a hearty laugh.

What Joel Embiid will be able to bring to the organization on the basketball court has yet to be seen as he has missed his first two seasons after undergoing two surgeries to repair the navicular bone in his right foot. What he brings to the locker room and to the practice court is an immeasurable positivity.

Embiid has just recently returned from Qatar, where he continued his rehab at Aspetar, a world-renowned rehabilitation facility. He will continue to work out on his own in an attempt to get healthy for next season. The workouts will still be solitary, but his return to the team lifts the spirits of everyone who is mired in a losing phase that includes 14 out of the last 15 and 10 in a row.

"All of us, you get most enthused, most confident, when you feel good about yourself," Brett Brown told reporters after practice Thursday. "Normally, you feel good about yourself cause you've invested some level of time, whether it's preparation, or your fitness. He's feeling good about himself. He's come back from the Middle East where he could be in an amazing situation where he could speak French, he could be in an environment, he tells me, that reminded him of Cameroon and that is beyond highly professional around fellow athletes. The days were very rigid, very monitored, very disciplined, no B.S. There was a road map where you followed or you weren't welcomed. It was very boot campish. He came back feeling great about himself, and he should. We go overboard on diet, we go overboard with sleep. We go overboard with prehab and rehab. He's put in the work. When I see him out there you feel it, you see it in his personality and in his face."

And now the next step, obviously, is to see it on the court. The workouts before games have been a little more involved and still give off a tremendous feeling of hope and excitement to the fans who watch.

"It's very monitored," said Brown. "It's very structured. It's deliberate practice and it needs to be. Any excitement that we see coming back, it can't be misinterpreted or abused where you do something longer or harder or more of than you should have. There's a diet. There is a prescribed duration of drills and time. We have to stick to it and it is increasing.

"We all sort of look at him and understand that that's a real piece to our program. He has a big personality. He's huggable. He's great. As he's gotten older, those sides where he's frustrated and wants to get back on the court, those are all true. But I think he's being tempted more as he's getting older. There's an endearing side of Joel that allows our guys, his teammates, to be affectionate and certainly young, in their greetings and reception towards him."

"He's like a brother to me," said Jahlil Okafor. "I love Jo-Jo. He just picks everybody up. He's doing what he has to do for his recovery. It's great to have him here."

Okafor and Noel sit

Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel sat out Thursday's practice due to nagging injuries. Okafor missed his second straight game on Wednesday after suffering a bruised shin against Orlando on Sunday. Noel took a couple of hard spills on Wednesday against Charlotte, one time banging his knee. Both are listed as day-to-day, but it wouldn't be surprising if at least Noel is in the lineup when the Sixers host the Miami Heat on Friday.

"It's definitely annoying sitting out and not being able to play," Okafor said. "Especially when you're just sitting there watching a game, the games are really long when you're not out there. The medical staff is telling me not to play. I definitely could if I needed to, but if you know anything about the Sixers' staff, they are super cautious and super careful about us playing with a knee injury or any type of thing. We're just being super careful."

As with everything else about being a rookie, Okafor is looking to treat this as another learning experience, trying to absorb the game the way his coach does from the bench.

"Kind of the stuff that coach says that he sees, the things he comes into the locker room and is upset about," Okafor said of what he's trying to observe from the bench. "I see that when I'm watching. Like playing against John Wall the other day, coach was talking about us getting back in transition. Obviously because John Wall is a hell of a player and he's really fast. We talked about it beforehand, but it's hard to do and he's hard to stop because that's what he does. From my position, in particular, he's always telling me to set screens for guys like Ish (Smith) and T.J. (McConnell) and when guys go under (the picks), he wants me to go over the screen. Carl Landry does a great job at that and I see what he means."

Grant fined

Jerami Grant was fined $10,000 for throwing a water bottle into the stands during the fourth quarter of the Sixers' loss at Washington on Monday.

» READ MORE: cooneyb@phillynews.com