Joel Embiid tells Philadelphia 76ers he wants 60 wins and the No 1 seed in Eastern Conference
Thursday 3 October 2019 11:53, UK
Joel Embiid is placing team success over individual goals in the 2019-20 NBA season, telling his Philadelphia 76ers team-mates he wants them to win 60 games and earn the No 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Speaking to NBA TV's Jared Greenberg at Sixers training camp, Embiid was asked about his ambitions to win the Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Rather than outline his individual goals, the Sixers All-Star center gave a team-oriented response.
"The main thing for me is the team's success," Embiid said. "If we are the No 1 seed and we win 60 games and I do what I do best - that's to dominate and help my team win - I feel like I put myself in the situation where I can win both awards.
"Going into the year, I want that No 1 seed and 60 wins."
The 76ers were eliminated from the 2018-19 playoffs by eventual NBA champions the Toronto Raptors in heartbreaking fashion. Kawhi Leonard's four-bounce fadeaway at the final buzzer condemned Philadelphia to a 92-90 Game 7 loss in the Eastern Conference semi-final series that ended their season and left Embiid in tears.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Embiid's durability and conditioning were criticised. He has responded by shedding "25lbs of fat" over the summer.
"Last year in the playoffs I wasn't at my best," said Embiid. "I had tendinitis and I was sick at the worst possible time. I needed to put myself in better situations. You can't control sickness but you can control your diet and make sure you eat better than you did before. That makes it harder for the sickness to come.
"I didn't have to cut out [any specific foods]. I just had to make sure I regulate my eating. I still like my Shake Shack!
"[The criticism] didn't matter. The biggest thing for me was losing Game 7 [against the Raptors]. It wasn't like I was fat. I'm not fat, I've never been fat. I wasn't worried about it.
"I missed 14 out of 18 games in the last part of the regular season. You miss games but also you don't get any practice done. It's hard to stay in shape when you can't do what you love or you can't even run. This summer was big for me as far as doing the right things and putting myself in good situations."
The Raptors' road to their maiden NBA title including allowing their star player Leonard to miss 20 regular-season games to ensure he was at his very best during the postseason. Does Embiid, who has struggled with injuries throughout his NBA career, think load management can be beneficial for him?
"The thing with Kawhi, they won a championship, that's a good thing to look at," Embiid said. "We've worked on it a lot this summer.
"Last year, we started the season and I was averaging about 36 minutes a game. You can't come out of the gate and play that many minutes after not doing much in the summer. This year, it's a different story. Last year I played 64 games, this year I see myself playing over 70 and we'll manage the load.
"The thing about me, that I've tried to make the team understand, is it takes me about a day or two but I get tired quicker when I'm on the basketball court. I've explained we've got to stay consistent.
"Instead of planning on missing a game or finding windows where we have three or four days of not doing anything so I can rest - I don't think that's a good idea - we need to plan it better. I can't go two days without doing anything as it puts me out of shape and that puts me in bad situations."
