May 8, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts to a play against the New York Knicks during the first quarter of game three of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Embiid’s cross to bear: Season ‘a success’ despite being hurt, hopeful and haunted by ‘what ifs’
The complexities of Joel Embiid’s life are varied, from his work, to the adoration he has for his family to the way the basketball world perceives him.
The frustration Philadelphia 76ers fans have about him are directly related to his body continually breaking down on him, a lot of time through no fault of his own. When healthy, he is simply one of the best basketball players in the world. It is said players like him could roll out of bed and dump 30 points in an NBA game. Embiid took that a step further, when he practically rolled off an operating table and averaged 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in four games against the Boston Celtics in the first round.
But a sprained ankle and contused hip kept him out of Game 2 and limited him mightily in Game 3 in what became a convincing four-game sweep at the hands of the New York Knicks.
Afterward, Embiid spoke at length, with son Arthur perched on his lap and his baby daughter waiting for him to put her to sleep, about the state of himself and the state of the team. There was good, bad and indifference.
It was just over a month ago, when the team was in Washington, that Embiid missed a game due to an illness, it was said. Embiid explained that he overslept for the team’s morning shootaround because he was up all night not feeling well, though he told the team he’d be ready to play that night. He didn’t play. A confusing twitter interaction followed in which Embiid said it was an April Fools joke. A few days later he said the team wouldn’t let him play. So the truth probably lies somewhere in between, but there was, no doubt, some tension.
It’s somewhat the norm with the Sixers and Embiid with stories and complications away from the basketball court. Of course, both would rather just concentrate on the game, and following Sunday’s season-ending loss, that is where Embiiid was primarily focused.
“I’ve been here my whole career and a lot has happened,” he said after scoring a team-high 24 points on 8-for-8 shooting. “We haven’t won but it’s hard. I’ve been doing this a long time. It’s hard to win in this league and everything has to happen and everybody has to be on the same page. Everybody has to play their best basketball at the same time and it takes a lot to win. I’m disappointed we lost the game. We didn’t get to our goal.
“Losing in the first or second round doesn’t matter to me if you don’t accomplish that goal. And, quite frankly, they were just better than us in everything. We just got to look at each other, starting with me. That’s where I put it, on me. I feel like I wasn’t around for much of the season for a lot of things and moving forward, understanding what it takes when it comes to my body and what we have to do as a group to make sure that I get to play every game. I feel like we found that solution so it will be better next year. I’m just disappointed that we didn’t get the chance to get the chance for another year with no championship. Everybody just has to look at themselves, starting with me. What can I do better to be more available, play better basketball and go from there.”
His desire to come back from the various injuries cannot be questioned. He returned to the series against the Celtics only 17 days after an appendectomy. To see him walking around in New York was like watching someone trying to walk on nails. His availability to the press after games is delayed at least an hour just so he can get the treatment he needs to be able to play a couple of nights later.
But there are still rumblings of a bit of immaturity – particularly when it comes to consistent tardiness, a subject addressed by teammate Tyrese Maxey in the past.
In order for this team to move where it wants to go, it needs Embiid to be available on the court, and perhaps better off of it. He’s confident this is going to be the best offseason he’s had in quite some time.
“I know we lost. For me this was a success,” he said. “I came into this year not knowing where I was going to be, how long I was going to play, if I was even going to play based on how the knee was the last few years. I came in just hoping for the best and I feel like we’re in a position where we figured out the knee. It hasn’t been an issue and if it wasn’t for the oblique (strain, suffered at the end of March), and some of the other stuff that I had, it could have been different as far as how many games I would have played.
“We came into the season thinking that there was not that much left based on the last few years. Now I’m sitting here, not thinking about my knee. Even after all the stuff that’s happened, with people falling on me. Obviously you’re going to have setbacks as you go along, but those setbacks have been so much different than they’ve been in the past. So, I hate losing, but I thought I was done. That’s the best way to put it. We found something as a group to figure out what it takes and what we have to do to make sure I can play a lot of games.”
Just being able to get himself available for the playoffs didn’t go unnoticed by his coach.
“He certainly was trending upward toward the end of the Boston series,” said Nick Nurse. “His defense was better, his rebounding was better. He was not making a lot of his jumpers, but I thought it was just a matter of time before he got that rhythm back. A lot of them went in and out. He gets the hip, ankle injury that took him out a game and I don’t think he ever got back to where he was trending to in Boston. I commend him, man. He worked his ass off to get out there and play. I think it was really difficult for him, especially (Game 3). I think he felt a little better (Sunday). He gave us everything he could.”
And therein lies the aggravation for Embiid, his coach, teammates and fans. How much does he have to give? When are all the injuries going to just catch up to him and when is the next one coming? It’s been the dilemma since he came into the league, and no one knows it better than him. He has been forced to accept that there is little he can do to prevent some things, nothing he can do when it comes to an appendectomy or bell’s palsy or a fractured orbital bone, or two.
Now, he says, he is looking forward to an offseason where he can actually work on his craft instead of just having to rehab his body and it’s latest injury.
“I’m going into the summer, obviously, I have to recover from everything that has been happening, that’s first, and then I would say after that I’m going to be able to just work out, which I haven’t done in a couple years,” he said. “So that’s exciting. Go into the summer having the chance to be more prepared with everything, body-wise and my game. So that’s going to be key. I’m excited about next season. VJ (Edgecombe) is going to be better. He was amazing for his first year. Tyrese is going to be better. PG (Paul George) that we saw the last couple of weeks, he’s still got it. And then everybody else, I don’t know who is going to be here. I don’t even know if I’m going to be here. Whatever happens, happens. For me, I’m excited.”
So much, if not everything, depends on the health of Embiid when it comes to the success of the organization. But there are other holes to fill, depth to be created. Where does Embiid see as the biggest needs for the team?
“I don’t know, that’s not my job,” he said. “If I was a GM I would answer that question. I’m just a player. I think I’ve got to focus on myself and my job as a leader is helping everybody else. Helping Tyrese. VJ’s up next. I feel like we got a good one and then he’s the guy. I’m telling you guys, he’s something different and this was only year one. Year two is going to be better, year three even better. He has a chance to be extremely special so providing that assistance to those younger guys and helping them keep going.
“I’ve seen a lot, I’ve dealt with a lot. Off the court, on the court. Just helping everybody as a whole. Not just them. Providing that leadership. I can’t answer your question because I’m not the GM, but I just hope… You look at the Knicks. We just played against a great team, guys coming off the bench, everybody just coming in and doing their job. I feel like we have that. It’s just about us looking at ourselves and wanting to improve. Whatever you got, you’ve got to improve on. Obviously leaning on the front office, coaches trying to understand what they need to do and going out there and actually working on it and getting better.”
And then Embiid ventured into the fantastical. The unexplained.
“It’s been tough. I had complications after the surgery and even the things that I’ve been dealing with, they’ve been related to the surgery. Coming back early and the core is kind of weak. It’s not an excuse, but everything else is affected, everything else is out of place. You look at the hip, the adductor, everything is out of place. It kind of put me in a position where you don’t have time to get ready to play and the time that you have, you have to jump right to playoff basketball. That’s tough, but I feel like I still played as hard as I could. I fought hard. I tried to give us a better chance to win. I look at myself like I’ve got to do better. Maybe I got to go to church more so I don’t have those types of things right before the playoffs. I don’t know. Maybe I’m cursed, maybe Philadelphia is cursed. I just got to keep doing the right things over and over and at some point it changes.”
Cursed or not, the desire is there. To stay healthy, to lead this team to a championship, to be the best husband, father and man he can be.
“I’ve got this beautiful young man,” he said, nodding to Arthur. “You guys may have taken away my chance to put my daughter to sleep. My wife is going to be extremely mad at me. That’s all I care about. I’ve got my family, my kids, hopefully I’ll get more. I’ve got my mom and dad, her parents. I could care less about what people think about me when it comes to basketball. I’ve done a lot of stuff off the court, so I hope that is what’s remembered. Whether it’s here in Philadelphia, all over the U.S. and in Africa. My focus is just to keep improving in these things, keep helping people. That’s really what I want my legacy to be.
“Basketball is just a platform. Whether I win or lose, I’ll be sad if I don’t win. But I don’t think that’s going to define me. We don’t want anyone to think that basketball is all they have because there’s so much more in life than basketball. You can ask all these guys, I care about winning more than anybody. There’s a lot of people that care about winning. We can all equally be on the same page when it comes to that. It sucks to lose. I haven’t won anything, so that hurts. But to go home and raise this guy, raise my daughter, look at my wife in the eyes and understand that I’m a good man no matter what people say.”
Fans appreciate that. But they’d prefer him to win and be healthy, too.
