For the entire season, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has shined in his role, but has still had to succumb to the team's desire to keep him on the floor.
He has already played more games this season than he did in the entirety of last season, and the All-Star break hasn't even happened yet. All good signs for Embiid.
The center made more progress on the health front recently after playing his first set of back-to-back games. He hadn't been playing in those all season.
And from the sound of it, Embiid fared just fine in the situation, per ESPN.
Article Continues Below“I felt great,” Embiid said after Saturday's game. “My legs weren't tired. My body was fine. I could feel it just a little bit. But I was fine.”
Philadephia head coach Brett Brown seemed ecstatic to finally have his star big man completely in the fold.
“To have Joel Embiid available is a whole new world when you're thinking about what you are going to do on a free throw, what are you going to do on a side out of bounds,” Brown said.
Embiid is certainly an important player for the 76ers, and probably their most important player going forward. While he may want to play every minute of ever game, the staff has been allowing him to get back to 100 percent.
It seems as though that has finally happened, which will only be good for everyone on the team going forward. Now they have to wait and see how Embiid responds to multiple sets of back-to-backs.