Joel Embiid and the Sixers are headed to the second round of the postseason, but the big fella thinks Philadelphia has a real shot at reaching the NBA Finals.
It wasn’t that long ago that an injured Embiid helplessly watched his team reach historic levels of ineptitude.
The Sixers have experienced a remarkable turnaround over the past two seasons, and now appear to be the future of the League.
TWO years ago Elton Brand hung a poster in the Sixers lockeroom congratulating them on tying for worst team in NBA history. @JoelEmbiid was pissed. He said to himself, "When I come back, something's got to change." It did and then some. https://t.co/vQVmKnoTEs
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 25, 2018
Per ESPN:
[Elton] Brand had a huge poster made that said, “Congratulations on Tying the Record for Worst Team in NBA History” with the number of every player on the roster on it. He hung it in the locker room before the team’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans on April 4, 2016.
“Honestly I was pissed,” Sixers center Joel Embiid said. “But I was hurt and couldn’t do anything about it so I was just like, ‘When I come back, something’s got to change.'”
On the eve of Game 5, Embiid said the Sixers’ time was now, that they need to seize this opportunity and start thinking of themselves as a NBA Finals team. He has been suggesting that for a while now, posting photos of the Sixers’ potential path to the Finals on Instagram and mentioning it in various interviews. But there was always a smile or a wink as he said it.
“We have a chance,” Embiid said. “We have a good chance.”
