Tyrese Maxey said Thursday that having a healthy Joel Embiid “changes everything” for the Philadelphia 76ers, according to ESPN. The comment, made in Camden, New Jersey, comes less than a week before Philadelphia opens its season with a roster that now includes LeBron James and Jaylen Brown alongside Embiid and Maxey.
Maxey’s remarks carry weight given his history with Embiid. The two have played together for six seasons, a level of familiarity that James and Brown do not yet share with the seven-footer after joining the team this offseason.
The Main Development
Embiid has never completed an 82-game season and has topped 60 appearances only four times in his 10-year career, averaging 49 games per season. Last year he played just 38 games while managing a right hip issue, a left knee problem and appendicitis.
Those absences have often extended into training camp and preseason, the exact stretches when teammates typically build chemistry with him. Maxey said that gap has shown up in games in years past.
“There’s been times where he hasn’t been healthy and we get into the game and now we’re trying to learn on the flow,” Maxey said. “You can put in more packages.”
What It Means
With Embiid present for training camp this fall, Maxey said the team has used the extra practice time to reinforce habits that are difficult to install on the fly. “If you haven’t been playing with a big like Joel, there’s not many. It’s very hard, very difficult to learn certain things,” Maxey said.
“So, with him being here, we can drill those things over and over. It’s been what, like two, three weeks that we’ve had just drilling and drilling. That’s a good thing.”
That repetition matters most for James and Brown, who are integrating into Embiid’s game without the years of shared experience Maxey has built up. James, 41, has already taken on a facilitator role in the preseason, running point forward in Philadelphia’s game against Brooklyn and emerging as the team’s primary playmaker, according to The Athletic via NBA.com. The Sixers lack another dynamic ball handler on the roster, which has made James’ distributing more valuable even at his age.
Context
Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, said at the end of last season he felt “as confident as I’ve ever been” about his health. Philadelphia finished 45-37 and lost in the second round to the New York Knicks before adding James and Brown to build what the Associated Press described as a star-studded starting lineup. James is believed to be in what could be his final NBA stop as he tries to help Philadelphia win its first title since 1983, and the AP reported the Sixers are considered all-in on a championship run with their current five.
What’s Next
Philadelphia opens its regular season on Oct. 20 at New York. How Embiid holds up physically through camp and into the schedule will determine whether the extra reps Maxey described translate into the in-game chemistry the Sixers are counting on.
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