If Joel Embiid can stay healthy, he will be an absolute star.
If you didn’t watch his NBA debut in the Sixers preseason win over the Celtics Tuesday, here are five reasons you should go all in on the Sixersbig man:
1. He is gigantic
Embiid grew two inches while sitting on the bench, nursing his foot injury and missing two seasons of NBA games. He is listed as 7-foot tall, but he is much bigger than that.
Just look at the photo below, posted by Reddit userKramerDSPstanding next to 6-foot-10 teammate Ben Simmons:
The center has the natural gifts to tower over most NBA big men with his strengthand size.
“Because of his height hes going to be able to get off jump shot about anytime he wants,” Sixers head coach Brett Brown said.
2. He was double teamed almost instantly
It’s really saying something that just minutes into his first ever preseason game, the rookie was double teamed by Boston.
“You’re really going to double-team, first game, second quarter?” Embiid said. “That kind of messed me up after that. But that’s something that I’m going to go back, watch film, learn from it and next game if it happens again I’ll be ready for it.” The double teams will only help Embiid to become a great passer, and a true inside out player.
3. He can post up
If you watched Embiid play away from the ball (it was hard not too, he is just enormous), he constantly was jockeying for position in the post. His first bucket was a turnaround shimmey jump shot — like those of Patrick Ewing or Hakeem Olajuwon in the past, and though he only played 12 minutes he dominated the inside of the floor offensively and defensively. 4. His postgame quotes
Embiid admitted to being nervous during his brief but formative first step in the NBA. He scored six points on two made field goals and two made free throws. But according to the man himself, he expected more: “Honestly I thought in 12 minutes I thought I could come out and score like 40 points,” he said amid laughter from the Sixers media.
5. He has range
We saw it in his practice instagrams. We heard it from the media, coaches and teammates. But there was something special about Embiid’s drilled long-distance almost three-pointer (his foot was on the line) to end the first quarter Tuesday. He’s an inside out, stretch-five and could change the NBA with his raw talent and all around skills.
