PHILADELPHIA — Jared McCain and Joel Embiid spent a lot of time on the bench together during this Philadelphia 76ers season. The rookie and the veteran both dealt with knee injuries that knocked them out for most of the season.

Although those injuries were not quite the same thing, it gave them lots of time to watch games together from the sideline and get familiar with each other. Naturally, they bonded and Embiid helped McCain out as he learned about life in the NBA.

“Yeah, I think a lot of, with Jo, you see everything. And he's just a good dude,” McCain said. “Getting to know him when I was injured, talking to him on the bench, just a good person, helped me through my injury, talked to me, texted me, just helps me a lot on and off the court.

“I think, obviously, it's a lot of misunderstanding with everything he gets” — likely referring to the negative narratives that surround the big man — “but I got nothing but respect for him, just the way he handles everything. I know he wants to play as much as everybody else, so I'm excited to get out there with him. It's been really cool to get to know him throughout this injury process.”

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Jared McCain reveals how Joel Embiid helped him in injury rehab

McCain's happy-go-lucky attitude has reminded Embiid of Tyrese Maxey. His hard work surely does, too. McCain said that, along with the help from Embiid, Maxey and Kyle Lowry gave him plenty of insight. Watching Jared Butler operate in the pick-and-roll helped him, too. Now, his biggest goal is getting healthy again.

“Just to get healthy. That's all I want,” McCain said of his offseason plans. “That's all I'm praying for. All I'm wishing for. Just to get healthy, be 100 percent and then get back to work. I know I can obviously help this team do a lot of things and I just wanna get back out there and get a feel for the game and just play basketball again. Run up and down the court. I can't wait to just [get to] where I put on my shoes and just sprint, just go run.”

With Daryl Morey's insistence that the 76ers need to get younger and more dynamic, McCain's role on the team going forward will be very important.