If anyone needed any more evidence that Philadelphia is an insanely intense fandom, all you need to do is check the latest reviews of Dr. Jonathan Glashow. Sixers fans have flooded him with online reviews after he performed surgery on Joel Embiid’s left knee last spring. So much so that Glashow posted a video on Instagram thanking everyone.
Fans continue to marvel at both he and Embiid’s work as the former MVP continues to put up production resembling his old self. Embiid seems to look better with every performance — his most recent was the first time he’s scored 40 points in the regular season since his 70-burger two years ago against the Spurs. He dropped 40 along with 11 rebounds going 13-of-27 from the floor in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
As Embiid continues to stack games like this together, the work of he and Glashow only looks more impressive. Glashow’s warm welcome into the Sixers fanbase has been wholesome fun. But, with no disrespect to his medical ability, it’s important to give Embiid just as much credit for working his way back into this form.
“Obviously, it’s been a long road, so that right there talks about the amount of work,” head coach Nick Nurse said. “He certainly looks like he’s moving better all the time. I think he’s still a ways [away], he would say he’s still a ways [away] from moving as good as he would like to.”
Embiid has added wrinkles to his game, skill after skill since before he even played an NBA game. His touch and jumper are two of the biggest weapons in his arsenal, and that was something he developed after playing at Kansas in college. In the past, Embiid has joked about taking more jumpers when he’s been asked about trying to preserve his body.
His footwork in the post has always been one of his greatest skills. He’s relying on it now more than ever as he can’t quite push past and blow by defenders as easily as he used to.
Even as recent as earlier this season, the idea of Embiid producing like this on a consistent basis seemed farfetched. He needed two days off before games. He was only playing 20 minutes a night. He wasn’t even taking jump balls.
The only games he missed in January were planned absences on back-to-backs. In the 14 games he played in the month, he averaged 29.7 points per game on a 56.9% effective field goal percentage. The team is also 10-4 in those contests.
Even Embiid himself seems a bit surprised that he’s gotten back to this level so quickly.
“Coming into this year I think it was going to be more of a try-out year,” he said after the Pelicans game. “This year has already been successful.”
He said that this year was all about figuring how to treat his knee on a day-to-day basis, how it will react to the stresses of a regular season grind.
Getting back to All-Star level production can only be the product of a lot of hard work, and his teammates and coaches have certainly witnessed that.
It’s given Tyrese Maxey the chance to bring back his go-to catchphrase when asked about the big fella.
“He’s really good at basketball, like really good though. And I’m not trying to be funny like, he’s playing the right way,” Maxey said after the win. “It’s a blessing, man. He works hard, he does a good job of getting his body right. He played more minutes than me tonight, so that’s good.”
If anything, it shows that it takes a village to get through this process. Embiid made sure to shoutout Sixers trainer Simon Rice when discussing his 40-point performance.
“I would say probably everybody gave up on me. He’s the one guy who just kept trying to figure it out,” Embiid said.
This recent surge might have come too late for Embiid to make the All-Star reserves, but his bounce back this season has become the feel-good story of the NBA, with national outlets such as the Zach Lowe Show saying as much. There’s plenty of credit to go around for this turnaround — doctors, trainers, coaches, teammates.
Just don’t forget about the person at the very center of it.
