{"id":587430,"date":"2026-02-07T02:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T02:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/587430\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T02:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T02:14:15","slug":"im-always-going-to-fight-philadelphia-76ers-nightmare-finally-ends-as-joel-embiid-is-ready-to-return-after-injuries-nearly-derailed-his-nba-career-nba-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/587430\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m always going to fight\u201d: Philadelphia 76ers\u2019 nightmare finally ends as Joel Embiid is ready to return after injuries nearly derailed his NBA career | NBA News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u201cI\u2019mJoel Embiid. Image via: Bill Streicher\/USA TODAY Sports\/Reuters Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers were in a dwindle, for the most part anyway. The front office still stood by him, and the Sixers big man is now ready for some action; in fact, he is coming for the elite stars. After being sidelined by injuries for months, the Philadelphia 76ers center has re-emerged as a driving force in the Eastern Conference. It was not easy for the Sixers and for him. At one point, even Embiid questioned whether his best days were behind him.Now, his presence feels stabilizing again. Philadelphia looks different when he plays. The offense flows with purpose. The defense bends around his size and timing. As the franchise lived with uncertainty around its cornerstone, Embiid\u2019s return, by default, is a huge relief for the Sixers.<\/p>\n

Joel Embiid details his return following injury<\/p>\n

Two months ago, Joel Embiid was wrestling with doubt after multiple procedures on his left knee. The league MVP from 2023 had gone from dominance to limitation, trapped in a body that refused to cooperate.\u201cI was like, I don\u2019t know if I could ever get back to that point,\u201d Embiid told the California Post in an exclusive interview. \u201cBut I\u2019m back.\u201dThe numbers support that claim. Over his past 20 games, Embiid has averaged 29.7 points and 8.3 rebounds. He followed a 37-point night against Sacramento with a 40-point, 11-rebound performance against New Orleans. <\/p>\n

Joel Embiid addresses criticism following his injury battle<\/p>\n

Injuries shortened his last two seasons and sparked conversations about decline and even retirement. Embiid heard all of it.\u201cIt\u2019s hard,\u201d Embiid said. \u201cIt\u2019s like when people say, he\u2019s lazy, this and that. First of all, you can\u2019t be lazy if you start playing basketball at 16 and then make it to the league in three years. And injuries and injuries, keep getting back up and being an Olympian and all the other stuff that I have accomplished. It\u2019s been tough. But I\u2019m always going to fight.\u201dHis trainer Drew Hanlen emphasized the unseen work behind the comeback, \u201cIt\u2019s not like there\u2019s some magic new surgery that wasn\u2019t announced,\u201d Hanlen said. \u201cThat\u2019s not true. He only had the ones that were announced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joel Embiid is the missing piece of the puzzle for the Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n

Philadelphia\u2019s record reflects Embiid\u2019s value. The 76ers are 18-12 with him this season. Without him, they are 11-10 and average 113.8 points per game, per StatMuse. His presence eases pressure on Tyrese Maxey and forces defenses to react before the ball even moves.<\/p>\n

Joel Embiid is coming for the throne<\/p>\n

Even former skeptics are adjusting. ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins recently said, \u201cI\u2019d like to issue an apology to Daryl Morey and Joel Embiid because I didn\u2019t expect this.\u201dMilwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers, who once coached Embiid, offered a simpler assessment. \u201cJoel is the most talented player that I\u2019ve ever coached.\u201d\u201cWhatever I did two years ago,\u201d he said, \u201cI think I can do it again.\u201dIn the loss to the Lakers, Embiid scored 35 points in 39 minutes with 7 rebounds and assists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joel Embiid. Image via: Bill Streicher\/USA TODAY Sports\/Reuters Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers were in a dwindle, for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,1409,936,6,8164,15113,678,207,3817,1263],"class_list":{"0":"post-587430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-eastern-conference","11":"tag-joel-embiid","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nba-comeback","14":"tag-nba-injuries","15":"tag-philadelphia","16":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","17":"tag-philadelphia76ers","18":"tag-tyrese-maxey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116026938650037779","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}