How 76ers' Joel Embiid became better player, leader despite turmoil

By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer

Joel Embiid took the drama as a personal challenge.

When it started to become clear that the Ben Simmons spiral was irreversible, and he'd never play another game for the Philadelphia 76ers, Embiid took a long, hard look in the mirror. 

He had a choice. He could either transform into the player he wanted to become, or he could succumb to the disappointment, bitterness and frustration of the situation, using those emotions — and the absence of a three-time All-Star — as excuses.

He chose the former.

"I just felt like, what are we waiting for?" Embiid told FOX Sports. "Obviously, that's a big hole that we were missing. But I get paid to deliver. It doesn't matter who is playing or not. If I don't deliver on the court, fans are going to be mad. The front office, they're not going to be happy. So it doesn't matter whatever situation I'm in — I still got to go out there and deliver. I just looked at it like, I've just got to go out there and actually do it and prove it."

For Embiid, it started over the summer, when Simmons' discontent with the 76ers reached a boiling point following his inconsistent play in the postseason, when he shot 34% from the free-throw line and didn't make a shot in the fourth quarter in five of the team's seven games as Philadelphia was eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. 

At the time, Doc Rivers acknowledged that he didn't know if Simmons could be the point guard of a championship team. Embiid pointed to Simmons' decision down the stretch to pass on an open layup — potentially to avoid getting fouled — as a turning point in Game 7.

It quickly became obvious that a chasm between Simmons and the team was growing, though at the time, the belief was that tempers would cool and things could be mended. Still, Embiid and his trainer, Drew Hanlen, decided to make a contingency plan. They wanted Embiid to be prepared to lead the team on his own.

"While we didn't know how the Ben Simmons situation was going to play out, what we did know was that Joel, at his best, was capable of carrying a team, so that's what we focused on," Hanlen said. "We made some tweaks in his offseason workout so he could be a better creator and playmaker and be more efficient out of double- and triple-teams that we knew he would see. And we even worked on him becoming the primary handler that you've seen at times this season."

If Simmons weren't on the court, defenses were going to collapse on Embiid. And so the challenge became simple: How could he remain effective while drawing all that attention?

Hanlen and Embiid spent the summer trying to address that. They pored over tape of Dirk Nowitzki leading the Mavericks to a championship in 2011. They studied how Kevin Durant, at 6-foot-10, is so effective as a ball handler. 

During their workouts, they honed Embiid's live dribble game so triple-teams couldn't trap him in the midpost. They practiced different ways for him to shoot off the bounce (with step-backs, fadeaways and hesitation pull-ups) so he could shoot over multiple defenders. And they worked on him becoming a better playmaker so when he got rebounds, he could push the ball in transition, and he could shoulder the offense when he caught the ball at the top of the key.

In late summer, things came to a head between Simmons and the Sixers.

Simmons demanded a trade and refused to report to training camp. The 76ers still hoped they could repair the relationship, but it was a chaotic time with the drama playing out publicly.

But despite all the turmoil, Embiid was ready to do whatever he needed to do to lead his team. 

"It was extremely frustrating," he said. "It was hard to deal with, but as a competitor, I also like the challenge that was presented in front of me to just go out and see if I could do it, see if I could play extremely well."

Without Simmons, Embiid was forced to become a more complete player. He had no choice but to compensate for Simmons' absence. It brought out the best in him.

He won back-to-back Eastern Conference Player of the Month awards in December and January, averaging a league-leading 34 points and 10.8 rebounds in the latter month.

During that stretch, Hanlen saw a different glimmer in Embiid's eyes.

"I remember him on FaceTime just saying, 'You know what, bro? You were right. When I'm at my best, we have a chance to beat anyone on any night,'" Hanlen recalled. "That was the biggest turning point for me, when I really saw him going on this dominant back-to-back Player of the Month [stretch], when he really realized that he didn't need Ben."

Before the 76ers finally dealt Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for James Harden at the trade deadline, Embiid led the team to third in the East, just three games out of first. 

It was remarkable. While missing an All-Star, the 76ers were atop the league. Amid all the drama, they were thriving.

Rivers credited Embiid with keeping the team from fracturing. He pointed to how Embiid responded after Simmons was thrown out of practice in October for refusing to participate in a drill.

"That was the day [Embiid] was like, 'I don't care. I'm focused on our team,'" Rivers told FOX Sports. "I thought his words were very important for our other guys. Like, 'listen, we're going to focus on the guys on the floor.' We always talked about we want willing participants and not hostages. I thought that was our mindset."

Simmons eventually told the team that he wasn't mentally ready to play and started seeing a mental health professional.

Throughout the season, Embiid had to answer for Simmons' decisions. Publicly, he had to field countless questions about the situation. Privately, he had to find the right words to keep his teammates motivated. 

Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey said Embiid was a pillar of strength for his teammates during that time.

"He's been very vocal, and that came from the beginning of the year, the start of training camp," Maxey said. "We had a lot of stuff going on, of course, a lot of different situations earlier in the year. For us to be where we are, Joel was a big part of that. He kinda takes no nonsense. Everything is about basketball and about winning. When the head of the snake is really locked in and really focused on the task at hand, everybody needs to fall in line."

For the 76ers, Embiid's leadership both on and off the court have made all the difference in their remaining one of the NBA's elite teams.

As the Sixers prepare for another playoff push, Embiid is once again a front-runner for the MVP award, alongside Denver's Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo. Embiid is averaging a career-high 30.2 points (second in the league behind LeBron James' 30.3) and 11.6 rebounds.

Rivers, of course, thinks Embiid deserves the honor because of the way he guided the team through everything the Sixers have dealt with this season. In fact, he believes Embiid doesn't get enough credit for the way he has handled things. 

Instead of reacting to the drama, Embiid used it as fuel. 

"I don't think people read into that enough," Rivers told FOX Sports. "There's nobody that went through more turmoil than this team. And it didn't affect us. We kept playing. And that's through your best player. I don't think that's given enough weight, in my opinion."

Embiid's toughness is especially noteworthy because it was questioned early in his career.  

After the 76ers selected him with the third pick in the 2014 draft, he missed his first two seasons because of a foot injury, leading some to wonder about him. Did he work hard enough? Was he in good enough shape? Would he ever become the player he was projected to be?

But Embiid gritted his teeth and proved his doubters wrong, even while dealing with heartbreak. In 2014, his 13-year-old brother, Arthur, was killed after he was struck by a truck in Cameroon. After that, Embiid considered quitting basketball and rejoining his family in Africa.

But through everything, he persevered. The challenge of playing without Simmons? That pales in comparison to other things Embiid has been through — as does his newest obstacle. 

With only four games left in the regular season, he and Harden need to figure out how to play alongside each other. There's a deep well of mutual respect there, but that won't make up for a lack of experience together on the court during the playoffs, when the pressure intensifies.

In a 112-108 Sixers win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday that locked up a playoff spot for Philly, Embiid and Harden played together beautifully. Embiid had 44 points and 17 rebounds while Harden posted a triple-double: 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. But they're still learning how to react to each other during screens. They're building chemistry. And they're studying each other's game.

Hanlen isn't too concerned. He has worked with Embiid since he entered the league after one year at Kansas. According to Hanlen, if there's one thing Embiid is good at, it's being a chameleon and adjusting to whatever his team needs.

"He was 1-for-5 at Kansas from 3, but this team needed shooting, so he developed into a good 3-point shooter," he said. "This team never has had — before James Harden — a playmaker. That's why he turned himself into a playmaker. This team has never had a closer, and this year, he's leading the NBA in clutch points. Everything that this team has needed to win, he has become."

It remains to be seen how things will play out in the postseason. But this much is for sure: Embiid desperately wants to win a championship, and finally, the drama that plagued his team all season is behind it. 

For Embiid, it's a giant relief.

If nothing else, he can take a huge amount of pride in knowing that he unequivocally answered the question he posed to himself at the start of the season.

"To me, it was another challenge," he told FOX Sports. "Can you go out and do it?"

Without a doubt, it's a resounding yes. 

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.