Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid said during the team's media day on Monday that he doesn't care about individual accomplishments this season.
The 2022-23 MVP, seven-time All-Star and two-time scoring champion also revealed that he's lost a significant amount of weight this offseason with the intention of being healthy for a possible deep playoff run next year.
Joel Embiid said he's lost 25-30 pounds, and hopes to lose more. Said his only focus is on doing whatever it takes to be healthy when the playoffs come around, and that he isn't worried about anything else, including any individual accolades.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 30, 2024
Joel Embiid said he told Daryl Morey after last season's playoff exit that he had to do whatever it takes to be healthy for the playoffs. Says he's lost 25-30 pounds this offseason and might lose more.
"There’s no agenda," he said. "There’s no All-Star. There’s no All-NBA."— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) September 30, 2024
Though he suited up for all six of the team's first-round postseason contests during their loss to the New York Knicks earlier this year, Embiid has missed at least one playoff game due to injury in five of the last seven seasons.
Overall, the Cameroonian big man has appeared in 59 postseason tilts with the Sixers out of a possible 67.
Embiid missed the initial two games of Philadelphia's first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat in April 2018 and Game 3 of the team's opening-round slate against the Brooklyn Nets in April 2019. Embiid then was sidelined for Game 5 of the group's first-round series against the Washington Wizards in June 2021 and the first two battles of the 76ers' conference semifinal series vs. the Heat in May 2022.
He most recently missed Game 4 of Philadelphia's first-round set against the Nets in April 2023 and the opening contest of the team's conference semifinal matchup vs. the Boston Celtics in May 2023.
The Sixers have been fortunate to go 5-3 in Embiid's eight missed playoff games over the years. It's fair to wonder though, if the team would've had a championship during "The Process" era by now if their superstar had been completely healthy during each postseason run.
