The Philadelphia 76ers are an imperfect bunch and that was certainly on display on Thursday as they returned from the break and they had a wild, up and down, 112-104 overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets.
With his team needing him down by 20, Joel Embiid morphed into “fun mode” and had 39 points and 16 rebounds while getting to the foul line 19 times in the win.
It was a performance that only the “fun” Embiid could put on as he continues to get back to being the Embiid of old.
“Like I’ve been saying, I’m getting back to myself,” he said. “I’m telling my teammates just get me the ball. That’s the mindset I’ve got to have and I want my teammates to know that I’m going to be there, especially in those types of situations.”
That’s fine, but what exactly is having fun? What is that? Is it trash-talking? Is it simply winning? There can be a lot of different explanations.
“Having fun means a lot of things,” explained Embiid. “This year I have not been smiling as much as the previous years. That doesn’t mean that I’m not having fun or anything is not going well, it’s just about just playing basketball the right way.”
There have been a lot of restraints on the big man in the 2019-20 season. A lot of criticism from the outside world came at him and they wanted him to pipe down and just focus on basketball and making this roster work. That did not sit well with the All-Star.
“I feel like in the first part of the season, I was trying to make sure everybody was comfortable and kind of took a step back,” he added. “If we’ve got to go somewhere, I’ve got to be one of the guys and it starts on defense. Just playing hard and running the floor, do the little things.”
Coach Brett Brown has wanted Embiid to be in the right mindset every game and he wants him to grab the team by the throat and lead the way. The Sixers are his team and he needs to keep this “fun mode” that he has been playing with lately.
As long as the Sixers are winning, who cares who if he talks trash? Just let him be himself and continue to play as well as he has been. [lawrence-related id=26175,26153,26144]