WEBVTT - Inside The Process | Behind the Scenes With Joel Embiid 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.320 Wait, wait, wait, before we start, I need you for 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:07.760 fifteen seconds. Okay, ready, here we go. Wherever it is 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:11.039 you're listening to this podcast on your phone, tablet, desktop. 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.040 If you're not following the seventy six ers podcast network, 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.880 please do give us a humble follow. That's it, That's 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.240 all I got with a couple of seconds. Spare all right, 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:33.080 enjoy the pod. Greatness that's a mighty big idea. What 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:37.960 do we do with the word like that? Many of 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:42.480 us aspire to be great? But how do you get there? 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:50.400 Where does greatness come from? How do you uncover it, 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:57.560 nurture it, grow it become great. For some, greatness comes 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:02.640 from a path you've charted for yourself. For others, the 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:10.120 path binds you. Greatness could be born in the shadow 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:17.759 of a big city, the world away, to be considered 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:20.680 among the greats. That anything is a feat in and 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.080 of itself. This is a kid that in the freshman 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:27.040 class is the best post guy in this year's freshman 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:31.720 group to be recognized as the greatest. Those are some 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:41.440 mighty long odds right now. As hard as it might 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.280 be to define greatness, we know it when we see it. 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.040 Joel Ebid is having a season for the Ages, a 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:56.040 career high fifty point. He's generational these hours, and he's 0:01:56.080 --> 0:02:00.920 making a serious run for MVP. Shoot the three that good. 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:05.080 Over time, Joel a bead has tied the game before 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:10.919 all Joel Embiad's powers. Don't underestimate what he does when 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:17.320 the bright lights aren't shining. I'm Julius Irving. Let's go 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:34.679 inside the process. Let's start in cameraon. There was never 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.800 supposed to be a basketball story, at least not in 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:43.880 the beginning. Maybe some other sport, but basketball, No, that 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:48.359 wasn't part of the plan. He took a while from 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.680 the the start because that's something of you know, wanted 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.800 to do for a while, for you know, two or 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:58.079 three years, but my dad just wasn't into it. He 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.640 just wanted me to you know, play every sports, saying 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.200 mainly volleyball because you know, I was super tall and 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.119 I had a lot of potential enough to go pro 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:13.000 at least according to Joel. This is Luke and Bob 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:17.200 Mute who is credited with discovering Joel. I heard about 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:21.560 him who you know, one of the coaches that you know, 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.239 I worked with in my camp. So he's told me 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.480 about Joel because you know, Joe playing volleyball, and he 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.480 was just like, well, he just started playing basketball, and 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:31.400 I think, you know, he definitely should come to the camp. 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:33.440 He definitely should see him when you come down. So 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.440 I was looking forward to like seeing him because tearing 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:39.880 from him, and you know, he's somebody who coached me 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.480 and trained me, so he has a eyeful talent and 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.680 my generation and a lot of talented players. So I 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.440 hearing him rap about Joel and potential, I was very 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:51.640 eager to, like, you know, really see Joel on the 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:53.560 court and see what he could do. So and I 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:59.240 was I wasn't disappointing. Joe remembers his father Thomas, dabbling 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:03.360 in sports him self. Joel took notice. You know, growing up, 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:07.360 my dad was in the army. He's a corner and 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.040 the army, but he also played sports and he played 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:14.840 handball and he was one of the best in his sports. 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:21.800 So I used to go watch him. You know, he 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.640 was tough and people were afraid of him, and he 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:27.880 was really good. So I always looked at it in 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.640 the way that, oh, I want to be better than him. 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.039 So anything that I do nowadays is also because I'm 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.680 like got something My dad, like I saw I dominant. 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.760 It was he in his sports. I want to be 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.800 better than him. Joe might do some things that seem 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.560 super human, but in a fundamental way, he learns the 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:50.760 same way most of us do. If he sees something, 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.760 it typically sticks. And in the summer of two ten, 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.680 his eyes and mine were fixed on the round ball. 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.320 I don't have like an actual memory. The first time 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:09.400 I actually remember just watching it and actually paying attention 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:15.880 to it was the finals. You know, Lakers saw takes. 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:24.320 That's how Kobe became my favorite players the two times 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:30.279 of the time ending any champions So that was the 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:33.520 first time I, you know, I watched and I kind 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:37.120 of saw, you know, what basketball was about. I was 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:41.960 just telling myself that's that seemed interesting, especially because at 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.839 the time I was playing you know, soccer, volleyball, you know, 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.520 a bunch of other sports. Uh So, you know, I 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:55.400 just said, he just seemed interesting. Joe just needed to 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:58.960 convince his father to let him play once again. Luke 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.720 and Bob Day. It's just one of those things where 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.840 you know, Head was a handball player, his uncle was 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:08.840 a volleyball player, so naturally you go towards the sports 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:12.080 that you know and understands his dad knew volleyball because 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.240 he being around his uncle who played volleyball ball, he 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.280 knew what that was like, but he never really had 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:19.599 any experience of basketball, so he didn't know really what 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.000 to expect for kid who was playing basketball. Here in 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:27.800 the States, your sixteenth birthday usually means what you get 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:32.440 the chance to learn to drive right, well, in Cameroon, 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:36.120 it means Joel and b was able to get his 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:40.119 hands on a basketball. You over two camps back to camera. 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:43.000 The camp was in Yawn Day at the arena. Their 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.560 two indoor courts and outdoor court, two outdoor courts, so 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.720 pretty simple, pretty basic camp, you know, just really you know, 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.640 trying to bring and help his kids for the game 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.200 you know in Cameroon and give back to the community 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.640 that helped me. And Joel was obviously part of the camp, 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:01.560 one of the campers. You know, it was starting to 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:03.960 pick up where like a lot of kids now knew 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:05.840 that we were having a camp and that at the 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:08.360 end of the camp we were kidding the five best 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.960 players to go to South Africa for the NBA Basketball 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.160 Without Borders, So probably that yeah, it was like, yeah, 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:15.920 where we had the most talented. There was a lot 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:20.440 of talented kids, and Joel stood out obviously, you know, 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:23.040 from being you know, one of the tallest, but definitely 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:24.960 from being like, you know, one of the guys with 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:27.200 the most potential. He probably wasn't the best player at 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.040 the camp, but like, even if he didn't have from talent, 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:31.920 jumped out. I leave that this kid was great. So 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.560 he already had good foot work and his ability to 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.960 like grow and just like seeing stuff like it's just flashes. 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.320 It was. You always see flashes at him and like wow, 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:42.560 like how did he do that? And I think I 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.760 remember one time I had asked one of the coaches, like, yo, 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:47.400 you just said this kids, he's been playing for six 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.400 months and he was like, yeah, only six months. That 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.360 just to tell you how how impressive he was one 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:54.920 he's doing now and it's just a continuity of like 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.600 how special he's been since ever since he picked up 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:01.360 the basketball. I started playing at six years old. From there, 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.640 my coaching Cameroon, from the first time, you know, we 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.760 started walking together, which was very short, it was for 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:15.400 five months and we walked together. Bud. He played a 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:19.520 huge role in you know what I became. It's clear 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.320 what Joe has become, But how did he get to 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:26.160 this point, let alone get there this fast. He's now 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.160 at the peak of his powers, but let's not forget 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.000 he was doing some pretty remarkable stuff going back to 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.520 his first year in the league and me A Wednesday 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:39.560 presented by State Farm, Day two of our double header 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.480 comes to you live from State Will Center in Los Angeles, 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.959 where many of the NBA's putting young stars take center 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.800 stage out of the Hollywood Lights. There was one particular 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.040 game early in Joel's career that still blows up as 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.560 one of his finance performances. As the Los Angeles Lakers 0:08:55.880 --> 0:09:01.319 walcome to Philadelphia seventy six ers November fifteen, twenty seventeen 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:06.120 against the Lakers at Staples Center. It was a forty 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:12.640 six point, fifteen rebound, seven assist, seven block epic and 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:17.480 beat from Deep Smokes, then mbat from Simmons and mb 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:22.000 now with fifteen points Simmons beautiful dish to mb the 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:26.640 three point play. This game was Joe's arrival and beat 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:30.760 great past Simmons with the monster stopped. Don't know what 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:36.600 he can't do on the floor Hollywood National Television against 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:41.000 a legacy franchise out of a foul forty one pm 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:46.480 B look Out League and Philadelphia soon Evin Harden having 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:50.600 the time of his life watching this As his star 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.840 began to rise, the rest of the league quickly took notice. 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:56.960 It blew me away when I first saw him play 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:01.079 the first time back then Doc Rivers was coach LA Clippers. 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:05.400 You're watching in college, and I don't remember seeing all that, 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.520 you know, and he didn't play much obviously, So yeah, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:13.120 I think he is talent and more skilled, you know, 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.000 because there's a lot of players in the NBA that 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:20.199 has all this potential athletic ability, but they're not skilled. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.360 I think Joel's skill level is what surprised everybody in 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:28.360 our league. In one sense, Joel isn't surprising anyone anymore, 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:33.400 no way. Game planning against him is usually a feudal pursuit. 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.800 On the other hand, he continues to amaze because he 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:43.600 continues to get better these days. Joel isn't just wrecking guys. 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:49.520 He's wrecking double teams, triple teams, full teams, and sometimes 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:55.160 single handedly. So again it begs the question, how did 0:10:55.200 --> 0:11:05.160 we get here? I'm the top of god that, uh, 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.520 you know, if you show me something, you know, I 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.600 just need to see it once or twice and I'd 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.720 be able to do it. You know, I just need 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.360 to sit with my eyes and I be able to 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:19.960 do anything. How many times have you been in situations 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:23.760 where you wish your brain could move that fast? It's 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:27.560 a gift. As far back as Joel and Beet can remember, 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.760 he's always been a visual learner. It just so happened 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:36.640 his first basketball coaching camera gave him a DVD of 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.080 some of the greats. All I use your arm jump hook. 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.520 He's filed and rolled across the iron. He's got so 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:45.120 many moves. Big Jim by Ewing who took it to 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:49.839 the rack, puts it up? What's it in dirt? To 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:54.520 point day to find out my money? Two twenty seven. 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.880 As I kept watching it was a king pat Ewing, 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:03.040 you know, Uck was in the team Duncan. As I 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:06.560 kept watching, you know, I just like a Kim Mole 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.400 because he just felt like the way he moved on 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.520 the basketball court like he just felt like he was dancing, 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:16.800 like he was hot, Like he was just fun to watch. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.920 Rebounds around that brow line. There's a dream shaw Ye, 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.800 hey man, what do we have? We gone back about 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:31.400 five the way he shook his body, the way he moved, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.720 you know, everything it did. So that was the first 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:38.680 one that really got into and that I really started 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.800 watching and you know, trying to you know, try to 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.960 kind of become like him and being spending several times 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.959 they didn't finishing. Beautiful touch by Joel e Bed This 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:54.400 is dream like footwork handling the basketball. It's a big 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.719 man coming off a little screen action and then the 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.000 dream shake gets to his spot. It makes you pay 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.480 the price. That's beautiful. A lot of people talking about 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:08.800 my shooting touch and you know, and I always thought 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.520 that he came from you know, the first move that 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:15.079 I ever did. It wasn't a hook shot. It was 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:19.280 not you know, typical big man move. It was not 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.439 the dog faed away. I used to go, you know, 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:26.120 off one leg, you know, take a dribble spin and 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:29.400 you know, fall away off one leg, just like dog 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.679 and big doing the dirt off one foot and then 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:38.079 he stares down the Dallas bench. As I kept doing it, 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.079 I just kept getting used to it, and he just 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.680 became you know, consistent. The next part of the story. 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.400 You probably know Joel left Africa for the United States 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.559 before his junior year in high school and attended a 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:56.520 couple of powerhouses before landing at the University of Kansas. 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:01.160 We were recruiting a couple of other guys off a 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:06.679 terrific AU basketball team out of Florida. Casey Hill, Brandon Green, 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.679 Chris Walker were three studs that two of them end 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:11.520 up going to Florida, one of them going to US 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.679 and and and and we're watching and uh, uh, I'm like, 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.000 who is this skinny kid that can run a little bit? 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.000 And and and they never throw it to him, and 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.400 he's pretty good. Bill self is the head coach of Kansas. 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:28.240 Joe played for the Jayhawks in two thousand and thirteen fourteen, 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.520 So we look into it and and uh, you know, 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:35.120 he attended the hottest high school in America, Mont verg 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.800 And and uh he was at Mont verd and didn't 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.160 play at all, you know, his junior year, not because 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.760 they he wasn't good enough, probably, but just because they 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:56.040 were loaded Luke and Bob Moute. From journal situation, we 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:57.840 really felt like the best for him was to come 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.880 in you know, good hig school. Um, when I have 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:05.480 a chance to you know, play and develop and obviously 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:10.040 get recruited for college. So I went to mom Ford myself, 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:11.920 and I knew momverg was going to be in a 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.920 position to obviously help him as a student because I 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:18.560 went there, and also you know, as a basketball because 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.320 you know, I knew what what they were trying to do. 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.040 So it was kind of a don't I don't want 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:24.320 to say, no, Brander, but it was kind of like 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.760 obvious choice because of the relationships that I had with 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.040 the people there. So that's why I felt confident, like, 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.320 you know, send him in over there and making sure 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:33.760 that that was a school that he was going to 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.640 go to, the transition from Cameron to here, because I 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:38.160 mean that was kind of like the path that I 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.600 took as well. Bill. So the following year he went 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:45.160 to a school in Gainesville, Florida called The Rock and 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:49.320 he was recruited some I mean US Texas, Marquette, and Florida, 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.520 but he wasn't highly recruited like he deserved. And we 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.400 made it a priority and and we we recruited him 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:59.200 hard and other people did too, but uh, you know, 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.480 we got him here. And a cute little story about 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:04.880 him once he first gets here, because you know, back then, 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:09.080 you know, he wasn't this big Bravado type guy. He was. 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.240 He was, he was you know thin, you know, way 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.440 two hundred and thirty five, two hundred and forty pounds. 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:18.280 He was obviously very skilled, but the first practice we 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.560 had he got his but whipped. I mean just of 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.160 course we had pros. I mean we had multiple pros 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:26.080 and he gets whipped. And he came up to me 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:27.800 afterwards he said, you're gonna have to red shirt me, 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.560 aren't you? And I said, Joe, I don't think so. 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.200 I think you're you're gonna You're gonna be the first 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:34.920 pick in the draft. I just don't know if it'll 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.800 be this year next year. It's kind of jarring how 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.320 normal looking Joe's stats were in the surface at Kansas 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:47.320 eleven points eight rebounds. He took five threes and made 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.920 one of them. But he was a freak. Kansas listed 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.760 him at seven feet, two hundred and fifty pounds that season. 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:59.720 It was never about numbers, it was always about potential. 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.160 He had good hands, There's no question he's always had 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.439 soft hands and good hands. But the but the thing 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.040 that separating was his feet. I said this at a 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.040 at a Hall of Fame dinner, that that my guys 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:18.600 footwork reminds me of Elijah One a little bit. And 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:23.240 I had pros that played with the Lodging one at 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:27.000 the dinner laugh at me, saying, you just have no 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:29.399 idea how good that man was. And you know what, 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:34.480 I probably didn't, But Joe studied a Lodja one and 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.200 learned by just watching me. He was like he was 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.600 a guy that could that could play a piano by 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:50.040 by sound. I was going to a Kansas game and 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.960 before I go, I'll get briefed by the staff of 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.960 who the top players are. This is Daryl Morey, he 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:02.359 was still in Houston. Then mentioned Joel and uh and 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:05.399 I was unlucky. I cut a game he didn't play, unfortunately, 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.800 so I didn't I didn't actually see him live at Kansas. 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:13.199 Every time NBA people came to our practice, I always 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:17.920 did an individual improvement with Joe after practice so he 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.000 could show off the things he didn't do in practice 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.480 that day, just to show off his footwork and show 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.960 off that there are some similarities. And uh, and there 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.879 are now granted I'm not gonna say Akim, but but 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:36.040 we're talking about now a guy that's playing to that 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.200 type of level at the at the end on the 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:41.959 NBA stage. It is pretty remarkable because his feet were 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.600 just different. I mean, he uh, he was like a 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:47.600 ballerina there. I mean, folks thought he was gonna be, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:53.680 you know, super dominant, but not seeing him live, and um, 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.840 I didn't know much about him. At the beginning of 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:00.640 Joel's freshman season, Bill self boy him off the bench. 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:18.080 That changed after eight games. I think the more he played, 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:20.760 the more comfortable he had. But the thing's saying, I 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.840 mean we played Duke right off the bat in the 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.920 Champions Classic, and Wiggs was unbelievable. Best player in the game. 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.920 It was Jabari Parker versus Andrew Wiggins, and we put 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.160 a seven foot freshman in there and they didn't start. 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.080 And and if I'm not mistaken, due doubled him on 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:42.000 the post and something that he hasn't really gone against. 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:43.760 I mean, why would they double a guy that's not 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:48.440 going to score? M B draws the double chater, nice 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:51.639 look inside the Wiggins straight covered out the ball by Wiggins. 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:55.040 But the great luck for the young kid, I'm telling 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:57.879 us something, what protextual he has. Well, you wouldn't look 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:00.400 at him and say he's only been playing basketball tour years. 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:04.879 I just remember the poise he had handling traps, handling things, 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:07.760 seeing things that never been thrown at him before. He 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:09.600 just knew that it was just a matter of time 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:13.080 before everything clicked for him. On the Brake Seldon love 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.520 and be great catch. I couldn't go up with the shot, 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:21.280 so he kind of gets resell losers hurt. Why you 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.240 want watch the catch? First of all, not to travel 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:29.000 in the location of the defender footwork up and under. 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.200 That's a textbook right there. Yeah, you cannot defend that. 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:35.560 I don't know that we set to do list we 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:38.359 you know, through our strength training. You know, we said, okay, 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.040 these would be some goals that we try to try 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:42.960 to get our guys to reach based on, you know, 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:47.600 improving their flexibility, core strength, athletic ability, you know, strength, 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:50.200 what whatever it be. And I all say, and I 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:54.600 think Joe was very strong, but he became stronger. But 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:56.960 from a skill set standpoint, I don't think that we 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:01.040 really said let's do this because or do that, Because 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:05.919 I don't know that we really gathered what his ceiling 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:09.919 was until we saw him the next day and then 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:13.560 the next day and then the next day. It seems 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:17.439 like to me, his ceiling changed the more we watched him. 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:19.800 I wanted him to learn how to score before he 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:21.600 caught it, which I don't think a lot of young 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.240 players understood that, and he got where he is really 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.800 good at that as well. But I don't think we 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:30.080 set any any goals for him except just trying to 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:35.520 get him against his ceiling. But his ceiling changed. I mean, 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:40.400 his ceiling in November wasn't the same as December or December, 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:43.640 January or January's February. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.359 to see him in March because he got injured. Kansas 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.360 Jayhawks center Joel Embiid out for the Big Twelve tournament 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:54.000 and possibly more. How does this fractured vertebrae impact his 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:56.400 draft stock? A lot of the NBA guys have said 0:21:56.440 --> 0:21:59.320 Jabari Parker is the most polished player, Joel Embiid has 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:02.240 the most up side depending on that how that injury is. 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:04.359 If he sits out for the rest of the NCAA 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:06.760 tournament he makes a full recovery, he could still be 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:09.040 a top two or three pick. This is what keeps 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:12.080 NBA general managers up at night. But for now, Bill 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:14.840 self and Kansas have to march on without their center 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:18.560 Joel Embied. Joe didn't play in the NCAA tournament that year. 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.119 That's when his bad luck with injuries started. He suffered 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:26.240 a stress fracture in his back. Then a week before 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:29.879 Sam Hickey and the Sixes took him third overall, he 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:34.040 had the first of two surgeries on his right foot. Again, 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:38.600 Daryl Morey, I think everyone was concerned about the injuries, 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:41.840 but I thought, I mean, it was very obvious Sam 0:22:42.040 --> 0:22:44.119 was going to select him. I thought it was the 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:48.080 perfect selection because he had a chance to be what 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:52.640 he's become, which is, you know, the most dominant player 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:55.040 in the league. The fact that he was out was 0:22:55.080 --> 0:22:59.159 actually positive for Sam. I knew. I knew that the 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:02.080 way he was looking at it, he was trying to 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:05.000 create as many chances of getting a dominant player in 0:23:05.040 --> 0:23:08.080 the future as possible. But whether he played early on 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:13.359 wasn't as important. Bill, So I know he wasn't soft. 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:15.480 You know, we had a kid, Tary Black, that was 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:17.119 a man. I mean, he played in the league. He 0:23:17.240 --> 0:23:20.359 was a man, and uh he loved going against Tark 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:24.840 every day. You know, we did a rebounding drill. Joe 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:27.679 broke his orbital bone. You know, he's he's he's uh, 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:30.680 has to go get fixed up, and then you know, 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:33.240 has to play in goggles and all that stuff. He 0:23:33.280 --> 0:23:35.360 didn't skip a bee, didn't miss a game. I mean, 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:39.440 it's so from a competitive standpoint like that. He wanted 0:23:39.440 --> 0:23:40.959 to be out there and he wanted to be out 0:23:41.000 --> 0:23:42.800 there for himself, but he also was a team guy. 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:44.640 He wanted to be out there for his teammates too. 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:49.240 He liked to win. He liked that feeling. He wasn't 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:51.560 in it to just get his and move on. I 0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:54.280 felt like he was in it for us. And because 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:59.080 he was, that definitely benefited him a lot. All right, 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:01.880 Welcome to Sports Essential presented by Chevrolet. Thanks for being 0:24:01.920 --> 0:24:05.000 with us. Alongside Jen Daniels, I'm Ron Burke. The Sixers 0:24:05.080 --> 0:24:08.040 hosted the Celtics tonight at Wells Fargo Center. However, Brett 0:24:08.119 --> 0:24:10.920 Brown did not coach the team. First round pick Joel 0:24:10.960 --> 0:24:14.680 em Beat's teenage brother Arthur, passed away today in Africa. Brown, 0:24:14.800 --> 0:24:17.600 along with GM, Sam Hinky and Luke bab Mute, were 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:22.600 with MBIID in Philly. For more. We send it Downstairs, 0:24:22.640 --> 0:24:25.600 where d lineup has been following the story once again, 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:31.920 Luke and Bob Moute. That was a tough season. Like 0:24:32.040 --> 0:24:35.040 you started the season with Arthur fasting, so you know, 0:24:35.119 --> 0:24:38.680 obviously being injured, having all those expectations and wanting to play, 0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:43.159 but then having to sit and wait. Um then you 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:46.520 get the news from from back home about Arthur. That 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:49.520 was really tough on him. But I think I think 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:53.520 he did a good job. I think that actually motivated him, 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:56.360 you know, to to to be better, to do good 0:24:56.400 --> 0:24:59.480