Philadelphia Sixers center Joel Embiid says he is just happy to play a basketball game after dealing with several injuries that marred his 2024-2025 season.
For the first time since February 22, 2025, the Cameroon born player who won the 2024 Olympics with the United States of America, played in the Sixers’ 126-110 win over Minnesota Timberwolves in a pre-season game.
Embiid played 18:35 minutes and registered 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the win after recovering from a left knee injury.
The 31 year old played just 19 games last season and averaged 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 30.2 minutes and after playing serious basketball for the first time in almost eight months, Embiid was just excited to be on the court playing.
“I don’t want to really think about the past.”
“I’m just in a good space mentally, physically. … I’m just happy to touch the basketball and be able to play basketball and do what I love.”
“I’m on the court playing basketball, doing some good things, helping us win and yeah, that’s really what I was focused on” Embiid said according to ESPN.
The Sixers open the 2025-2026 season against Boston Celtics on Wednesday, October 22.
