There was plenty of hype surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers going into the 2017-18 NBA Playoffs. Needless to say, they managed to live up to it with a third-place finish in the East followed by an impressive playoff run.
At the forefront of their success was center Joel Embiid. According to Keith Pompey of philly.com, Embiid is looking to kick things up a notch next year in his pursuit for the NBA's MVP award:
“I feel like next year is definitely going to be a type of MVP season for me,” Joel Embiid said. “But it starts with my body. And the skills. I love being in the gym. I don’t feel like taking any time off.
Embiid made tremendous strides in his first full year of being healthy. Although he was able to avoid any setbacks going into the season, the Sixers were still rather cautious with the big man after not letting him play in back-to-back games. Fortunately, it was still more than enough for Embiid to earn his first All-Star selection.
That said, he is well on his way to achieving his goal in the near future. The former third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft averaged 22.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game. However, it is clear that he is not ready to rest on his laurels just yet.
Embiid has shown that he was healthy enough to handle whatever workload the Sixers threw at him. However, if he wants to take part in every possible game moving forward, he may have to step up his conditioning in order to better handle the rigors that come with playing a full NBA season.
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