Joel Embiid finishes first week of Sixers camp in good health and spirits

VJ Edgecombe could have had an easy dunk or layup in Saturday’s Blue x White scrimmage before Joel Embiid made up his mind to prevent it.

As Edgecombe was weaving his way down the middle of the lane, Embiid made up the few steps he was trailing Edgecombe and met him at the rim. Embiid blocked the shot, but not without a foul. Embiid fell to the ground when he landed, which can cause at least a little bit of nervousness, given his injury history. But he got back up and started twirling around his finger, asking for a review of the play, as did LeBron James.

“I thought it was all ball,” Embiid said.

That sequence was just one of a few indications of how healthy Embiid has looked since the start of camp, with teammates, coach Nick Nurse, and president Mike Gansey raving about his intensity and participation level.

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“He hasn’t missed a practice. He’s been in damn near everything that we’ve done,” James said. “Pretty much, [the team has] had to sit him out at times, even when he wanted to keep going.”

Gansey said the team “got a plan together” for Embiid for this season, something Embiid also referenced during his comments Monday at media day. When asked if the team had a target number of games for Embiid to play this season, Gansey didn’t specify, but said the team would take things “day by day” with how Embiid is feeling.

Embiid played a good portion of the Sixers scrimmage on Saturday, and he looked refreshed and spry on both ends of the floor. He was knocking down threes as a trail man in transition and challenging shots at the rim while dusting off his two-man game with Tyrese Maxey. He even dunked at one point to cap a couple intense possessions battling Ariel Hukporti.

“That’s probably the last dunk of my career,” Embiid said in typically trolling fashion.

He also reignited some chemistry with James from their time playing for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.

“We played a lot of minutes,” James said. “He started a lot of games for us that summer, but the difference between ‘24 and now, he’s just so much more healthier.”

On one possession, James hit Embiid in stride as he was approaching the three-point line, and Embiid walked into an open three. That was part of an early barrage of plays James was making that delighted the crowd inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.

“Obviously, the Olympics was great. But whether we have played together or not, I don’t think it was going to matter,” Embiid said. “Because at the end of the day, when you put — whether it’s two players, a bunch of players together that have a high basketball IQ — it’s going to be easy to fit with that, and that’s been the case.”

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Related to the fit, Embiid touched on one of the buzzwords of this Sixers training camp: sacrifice. James spoke at length about how that word doesn’t have to be a negative. Nurse echoed that, and said he wanted the players to be the best versions of themselves, whatever that may look like within the context of this team. When asked a question about what he has seen from Maxey so far this camp, Embiid took his answer and spoke at length about his view of that word, and what it may mean for him and the rest of the Sixers lineup.

“It’s not about sacrifice. It’s just about being a star in your role and doing what you do best,” Embiid said. “I don’t think anybody should be put in a box. Just go out there, be yourself. Good shot, great shot, bad shot, we’ve all got each other’s backs. We move on. And then we go get a stop.”

To Embiid, this roster configuration is a chance for every player on the roster to be more efficient with the touches they get because the attention everyone else will command should keep the floor open regardless of who has the ball.

“You might get less touches, but you might get also more space. So what are you going to do with that space?” Embiid said. “Whether it’s for [Maxey], for me, for everybody, starting lineup, guys coming off the bench, different roles. Roles don’t even matter; it’s just about making the right play for each other over and over and over and try to find a way to be — I think for me — more efficient than I’ve ever been.”