While talking to the media after the Philadelphia 76ers’ 124-104 home loss to the Boston Celtics, Philly center and 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid acknowledged that he is not playing as well as he was last season.
“The way I was playing a year ago is not the way I’m playing right now, and it sucks,” he said Thursday night. “But I believe I probably need to fix the problem, and I’ll be back at that level… But it’s hard to have the trust when you’re not yourself.”
Embiid did bring some positivity to the conversation, saying that he thinks just being back on the court has been helpful. Last night marked his first game since February 11th before the NBA All-Star break.
“I’m not as dominant as I was a couple months ago, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t have a lot of impact on the game,” Embiid said. “Just me being out there, I think it helps a lot — just my presence, my ability to attract double teams, getting guys more shots.”
Joel Embiid, on whether the knee is limiting him:
“The way I was playing a year ago, it’s not the way I’m playing right now. It sucks. But I believe … I probably need to fix the problem and then I’ll be back at that level, but it’s hard to have trust when you’re not yourself.”… pic.twitter.com/CneQ5zTTMA— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) February 21, 2025
“But my dominant self, I’ll get there. It’s just tough because you know you can do so much more,” he continued. “There’s no excuses; it’s just the way it is. Just got to keep finding ways to figure it out and get better.”
A Philly legend chimes in
Former Philadelphia 76ers Hall of Famer and television analyst Charles Barkley had some harsh words for the franchise that drafted him. He explained how the Sixers could have problems for many years to come.
“The Sixers, they’re in trouble as a franchise,” Barkley said during a February 20th episode of Inside the NBA. “They got a guy who can’t stay healthy, who they going to pay 65, 70 million dollars the next five years… And you know my thing is, guys don’t get better when they get older. I think the Sixers are in serious trouble as a franchise. It’s unfortunate because I like Joel Embiid as a person, but availability is the best ability. They said he probably needs another knee surgery after this season… This team could be in trouble for the next decade.”
Embiid has only played in 18 games this season. His 56 starts over the last two years are the third-fewest ever by a player two seasons removed from winning the NBA’s MVP award.
