Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown had a video conference with reporters Friday, and one of the topics of discussion was Joel Embiid's health and fitness. Brown admitted that Embiid's weight still remains to be an issue, but that the 7-foot big man is working hard to reach his ideal weight.
“Joel's always a topic,” Brown said in , via Paul Hudrick of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “We get it. The importance that he represents as being a complete parallel to can you win a championship or not, is real.
“I've had many conversations with Jo. I spoke with him 30 minutes ago, and he's got a real desire to be at a playing weight that equals his best since he's been in the league.”
The Sixers' signal-caller stressed the importance of Embiid's conditioning, especially considering how Brown is looking to log his star big man with some heavy minutes come playoff time.
“I feel, like this year [he's] averaging 30 minutes and last year he's at 34. Really, if the playoffs started pick whatever date you want to choose, my ideal thing is I want to play him about 38 minutes. I really would. In a playoff situation, as the head coach, that's my ideal number. In the regular season, you bring him along and so I think 30 was the number this year that he ended up, but possibly [this break could be helpful].”
According to Brown, Embiid is well aware that his overall health is not only something that is going to be beneficial for him on an individual level, but more importantly, that it will go a long way in terms of helping the entire Sixers team achieve its collective goal.
“I feel like Joel is completely — and this is good,” Brown said, “Joel is completely aware that kind of as he goes with his health and his fitness, we go.”
The fact that we have all been locked down at home makes the challenge of remaining fit even more difficult. However, so long as Embiid puts on the right frame of mind, then he should be able to achieve his fitness objectives.
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