As the Philadelphia 76ers prepare for the 2020-21 season, there is a lot of questions that the team has to answer. One of those questions is big man Joel Embiid’s conditioning.
There have been too many times in the past where he would come up small in big situations and there would be a question about whether he was in good enough shape to get the job done.
In his first real practice under new coach Doc Rivers, Embiid went to work and he caught the eye of Rivers.
“I don’t know Joel from the past because this is my first year coaching him, but we just went over almost two and a half hours and Joel took very few breaks,” Rivers said. “That’s a great sign, I mean, he stayed on the floor.”
It is important for Embiid to be at his best for Philadelphia to have a shot this season. Rivers then detailed that he puts the players through a grueling practice and having Embiid go through all of it and not needing to take a break is huge for them.
“If you’ve ever been in my practices with players will tell you, we don’t break a lot,” the coach added. “We go from action to action, action to action to action. I want our players to feel that. How quickly, we go from one drill to another we don’t seem to talk a lot, and that’s new. I’m sure it is and so the fact that he didn’t feel the need to take a lot of breaks is a good sign for us.”
Another set of eyes who noticed Embiid’s conditioning level was Furkan Korkmaz who has been his teammate for three seasons now.
“I’ve known Joel for enough time,” said Korkmaz. “I know his mind and his mentality. He’s working hard, really, the last couple of years. He’s been working hard, he’s really been taking care of his body, I think he’s in really good shape.”
Korkmaz did acknowledge that Embiid was not in the best shape to begin his career, but there has been a noticeable difference in his eyes.
“When he first got to the league, he was not that in good shape, but right now, the last two years especially, he’s in really good shape,” Korkmaz added. “I can definitely say that he takes real good care of his body. Today, he was looking good. Last two years, I didn’t see any bad days.”
For the Sixers to have any chance at a title, they will need the big fella to be at his absolute best and this is a good start for him and the team. Now, they just need to move forward with it. [lawrence-related id=39890,39887,39884]