NBA free agency will kick off on July 1, with some high-profile players becoming available. Which big names will relocate to new teams?Howard Beck joins Adam Lefkoe to give his predictions in the video above.As soon as news of Embiid’s ailment became public, the critics came out in full force. The back issues Embiid experienced at Kansas had already raised concerns about his ability to stay healthy, so a second significant injury just four months later only heightened concerns.
Some of the same analysts who praised Embiid during the season were now comparing him to former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden, a 7-footer whose career has been derailed by multiple injuries. It’s also been pointed out that ex-NBA stars such as Bill Walton and Yao Ming each saw their careers end because of the same foot injury sustained by Embiid.
“I guess I’m like the protective older brother, but yeah, it bothers me,” said Nyam, adding that it’s senseless to assume Embiid will be injury prone simply because others were.Nyam noted that, at 250 pounds, Embiid has a different body type than the 330-pound Ming. And Walton retired 27 years ago, well before some of the advancements in modern medicine. Nyam said no one has mentioned that former NBA forwards such as Kevin McHale and Kurt Thomas enjoyed long careers after recovering from the exact same injury.“I just hate the way people focus on the negative all the time,” Nyam said. “I always see the glass half full.”
The barbs—both in the media and on Twitter—didn’t seem to annoy Embiid, who seems certain his health won’t be an issue moving forward.
“I just take it as motivation,” Embiid said Thursday. “When I watch TV and hear people talking bad about me, I just think about how I’m going to prove them wrong. This is a business now. I’m going to be in the best shape of my life.”Embiid said former Kansas teammate Andrew Wiggins, who went No. 1 in Thursday’s draft, has been particularly supportive.
“I love him,” Embiid said. “Every time he texts, he says, ‘You’re the best. I know you’re going to bounce back. I see what nobody else gets to see. When you get to the league you’re going to kill it.’”
Still, some mock drafts predicted Embiid could slip all the way to No. 10—or lower. Overseas in Cameroon, Embiid’s mother, Christine, became concerned about her son. But any worries she may have had were put to rest when she arrived in Los Angeles this week.“He’s confident he’ll be OK,” Christine told Bleacher Report through an interpreter Thursday.“He’s playing around and in good spirits. He just seems so happy.”
That, Embiid said, is because he understands how blessed he is to be in this position. Whether he was the first overall pick or a late first-rounder, Embiid realizes it was only three years ago when he stood in a gym at Montverde Academy in Florida, struggling to catch passes, dribbling off his foot and knowing little English after moving to the United States a few weeks earlier to learn more about the game.Embiid was so bad that coach Kevin Boyle had to summon his veteran players and ask them to quit laughing at their new teammate.
At the time, Embiid told everyone that his goal was to be as good as NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who, like Embiid, grew up playing soccer before discovering basketball. Embiid watched tapes of Olajuwon almost daily and then tried to mimic his moves on the court.A few months ago, Olajuwon even called Embiid and offered to help him train during future offseasons.“I don’t even remember much of what he said,” Embiid said. “I was just so excited to be talking to my idol that I couldn’t focus on anything else. I was just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah!’"It was a big deal to me.”
