Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid is ready to pick up where he left off after the Sixers' campaign was stopped by the NBA COVID-19 suspension.
The 26-year-old told Lauren Rosen of Sixers.com that he has been consistently increasing his activity in anticipation of the league's return to the hardwood.
“We’ve been going at it for the past four weeks, about six times a week, just trying to get a head start, and get ready for whatever’s coming. I have something to prove, and I feel like whenever that opportunity comes, it’s going to be my time,” Joel Embiid said.
Embiid was having a strange season prior to the suspension of play.
The outspoken center had stayed mostly healthy for the first few months of the season, but he suffered a dislocated finger in early January, which forced him to miss the next nine games.
JoJo returned to the Sixers rotation at the end of the month, but he struggled to maintain consistency before hitting the shelf again at the end of February. After missing five games, Embiid scored 30 points in his return against the Detroit Pistons on Feb. 26.
Now, Embiid said he is looking to get back onto the floor with a refined mentality, which he said was hardened after the All-Star break.
“I felt like before the season got shut down, I was on that path. Especially after that All-Star game, my mentality completely changed. First part of the season wasn’t up to my standard, not even close. I was on that path of changing it all, go out, and make it happen,” the Sixers star added.
The Sixers will be a top-six team in the Eastern Conference regardless of how they perform in the final eight games of the NBA's return plan. However, Philly could climb as high as the fourth seed if they have a successful outing in Orlando.
Regardless, Embiid is intent on re-establishing himself as one of the most dominant bigs in the game once basketball action returns in July.
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