Joel Embiid Media Takeaways

Tuesday afternoon Sixers All-Star Joel Embiid met with the media via zoom. He would discuss his fitness, the team heading to Orlando, and much more.

Earlier this week, head coach Brett Brown and teammate Josh Richardson both spoke on how Embiid looks and has been working leading up to the league's restart. When asked about how he feels currently Embiid would say that he feels that his weight "isn't an issue" and that he has been working on keeping his body fat down. He would then go on to say that his body is feeling good as the team gets ready to head into the bubble.

When asked about how he felt about the team's chances to compete for a title he said that his opinion has not changed through this time off. He would then double down on the idea that the Sixers are built for the playoffs.

Embiid would bring up that before the suspension he felt he was "on the path" to getting back to where he was last year in terms of dominating on the floor. "I know what I have to do, I just got to keep the same mindset" he would finish off with.

Embiid did not hesitate to give his opinion on the idea of going to Orlando to finish the season. He led off by saying that at first, he hated the idea of the league's restart with everything going on in the world. "I'm not a big fan of the idea but then again I'm gonna do my job, I'm not gonna let the city down" Embiid would say in regards to going into the bubble and finishing this season.

The topic then changed to his pairing with All-Star teammate Ben Simmons, Embiid would go on to say that "we're gonna need him" in regards to Simmons getting back on the floor after being injured before the suspension.

In terms of their fit together on offense, we should expect to see more of the same. Embiid said he will continue to step out and shoot from deep and help create space on the floor to give Simmons the room to attack the basket.

Embiid would finish off by giving a lot of praise to Simmons. "It's all about winning a championship and I feel like he has the right mindset, that's what he wants."
He would then bring up his feelings about the team's offense. Saying that there were times during the year where he felt that he was just going through the motions on offense and that when playoffs roll around he needs to be more assertive.

The time away from the game has not hurt Embiid's confidence at all. Mentioning things like "I know what I'm capable of" and "I know I can carry a team." It feels like the All-Star big man is locked in mentally to return to the court.

As we saw throughout this year, the pairing of Al Horford and Embiid together was not always smooth sailing. But when brought up Embiid said he felt that his pairing with Horford was not a problem. "With that type of pairing you need shooting around" He would mention about how the floor should look with them on it together.

After the All-Star game, Joel Embiid looked like he was ready to remind the league just how dominant he can be. Listening to him speak today it seems like he is ready to lead the Sixers on a deep playoff run in Orlando.

Kevin McCormick is the 76ers insider for 97.3 ESPN and 76ers editor for Sportstalkphilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMcC973.