Sixers center Joel Embiid has been pretty busy during his stop at the Basketball Without Borders camp. He gave Philly fans a little bit of a scare when he told Marc Spears he wasn’t cleared for five-on-five yet, but judging by his demeanor, it doesn’t look like we have anything to worry about.
Since he isn’t allowed to play five-on-five yet, it looks like Embiid is partaking in another one of his favorite pastimes instead—demolishing children on the basketball court. The last time we saw him standing toe-to-toe with a child, he sent his shot back across Broad Street.
He’s staying plenty busy during his brief trip to Africa. When he’s not terrorizing kids, Embiid has been putting in work alongside some talented shooters. There are worse people to work on your craft with than CJ McCollum and Dirk Nowitzki, and from what we can see on video, the Sixers’ center kept pace with the deadeye shooters.
Having watched Embiid for brief stretches at the Sixers practice facility this summer, I can tell you this is a pretty familiar sight and set of drills for the big man to go through. During one media availability session this summer, Embiid was in the gym and curling off screens behind Robert Covington and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, matching the two wings stride-for-stride from beyond the arc.
He won’t always get to play against little kids, and the Sixers won’t want him just hanging out on the perimeter all game, but every piece of footage somehow makes me more excited to see him play next year. Just please, for the love of all things sacred, protect him, Injury Gods.