Bill Simmons left shocked by Joel Embiid’s current run with 76ers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Joel Embiid is shocking the NBA.

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Even though the Philadelphia 76ers star will miss the opportunity to land another All-Star appearance for the second season in a row, he has slowly but surely been returning to a dominant version of himself.

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is in shock about it.

“I don’t really understand the Embiid thing,” Simmons said this week.

“When you watch him, it only seems like one of his legs work, and he only occasionally has explosiveness, but he’s getting all the shots that he wants, and he seems relevant. He’ll fall down once a game, and you think the season’s over, and then he gets up. I don’t really understand it, but it’s way better than I thought. Where we were in October when we were thinking this was like, Andrew Bynum.”

Following a second surgery on his knee, Embiid entered the 2025-2026 NBA season on a restriction that prevented him from playing more than 25 minutes in a game. After seeing the court for six out of the first nine games, he was out with swelling and soreness for multiple weeks.

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It was a real “here we go again” situation for the guy who couldn’t consistently stay on the court last year before calling it a season prematurely.

But Embiid is hitting his stride. It hasn’t been a perfect run, but since December, he has only missed two games in a row on one occasion. He has just three absences in January, while averaging 33.5 minutes per game.

The former scoring champ and MVP has put up All-Star-caliber numbers in the new year. After a 139-122 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Embiid has produced 28.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. The big man is shooting 53 percent from the field, and knocking down 32 percent of his threes, taking 3.3 attempts per game.

Embiid still has a lot to prove in terms of staying healthy this year, but his rise cannot be downplayed. And even a well-known Boston Celtics supporter can’t help but appreciate the moment Embiid is having for the 76ers.

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