Joel Embiid doesn’t want to think about the past, but he’s re-connecting with his former self

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid practically blacked out.

It was a human moment. Something he's become more familiar with as he's focused on healing over the past year.

Sharing the frontcourt with Adem Bona in his preseason debut, Embiid retrieved the basketball that his second-year teammate had won on the opening tip. He progressed up the floor and launched a 26-foot three-pointer just seven seconds into the game clock.

Embiid thought he had made the shot. The ball grazed the side of the rim and bounced out of bounds.

"I was excited, but I've been doing this for a while now. I think it just hit me when I took that first terrible shot. I don’t know what I was doing," Embiid said with a smile after the Sixers' preseason finale against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"But I just felt like, ‘Well, I have the ball’. I don’t even know if anyone was in front of me. I just felt like shooting. I thought I made it and it wasn’t even close."

That's OK. It's OK to be vulnerable.

Embiid doesn't want to think about the past. Yet he was practically staring at his younger self in the mirror on Friday.

No, not the same man child rising star moonlighting as a comedian.

This version of Embiid is wiser and yet seemingly different from the version we've seen over the past two seasons.

That guy was perhaps too beaten down by the burden of a franchise's weight, scarred by injuries sustained trying to lift up an entire city. Maybe there was pain behind his eyes, maybe he didn't have the energy to dominate on the court and crack jokes afterward. Maybe he lost touch with that piece of himself and, in turn, he lost his joy.

And maybe he re-discovered it between February and now.

The version of Embiid that debuted on Friday fist-bumped fans on his way to the locker room. He chatted with people courtside during dead balls. He smiled and charmed with his wit during his postgame press conference.

Embiid wasn't the immature youngster whose mouth and social media activity wrote checks that his game couldn't cash. But he wasn't the hollow recluse he'd been in recent years, either.

"I don't want to really just think about the past. I'm just in a good space, mentally and physically. First of all, I'm just happy to touch a basketball and be able to play basketball and do what I love. When you don't get that, it's tough," Embiid said after the 126-110 victory.

"But that's what I'm most happy about. So today, tonight, that's all I kept thinking about. I'm on the court playing basketball. Doing some good things. Helping us win. That's really what I was focused on."

There were moments of rust. His footwork wasn't impeccable. But he passed the eye test. He had lift on his jumper. Embiid was more comfortable relying on his legs than he was at almost any point last season.

He pushed the pace, taking the ball from one end to the other and navigating traffic on his way to the rim for a score. He established himself in space, planting firmly with his legs to get his defender to back off an inch or two. Embiid attacked closeouts, inducing wild contests with shot fakes before driving.

He looked a lot like the Embiid that was can't-miss viewing before the injury.

It was far from his most robust box score. 14 points, eight assists, seven rebounds in 19 minutes. A near triple-double after not having played a live game in eight months.

And in true Sixers fashion, you could argue his defensive presence was more impactful than the box numbers were. It was a theme Philadelphia knows all too well. Embiid simply lurks around the rim and opposing offenses treat the paint like a no-fly zone. He stood by the rim and kept his eye on the ball. That was enough to induce awkward avoidances at the rim and live-ball turnovers.

The Sixers built a double-digit lead. He checked out. The lead shrunk. He returned. Repeat. 

A reminder of the excellence of which he's capable. A warning to the rest of the Eastern Conference about what could be on the horizon if that damned knee just cooperates.

"Feel pretty good. Obviously this is mostly a learning process. Getting back, seeing everything, obviously feeling good on the court and then how the body reacts," Embiid said.

"We're going to learn as we go. As every game comes by. So we'll see how it feels tomorrow. But it's been mentioned so many times - they're going to take the slow approach. I'm just going to do whatever they tell me to do."

The Sixers wanted him to log about 20 minutes. Mission accomplished.

"That was about exactly where we wanted to be with the minutes. Right in the ballpark with it," Nick Nurse told reporters after the game.

"It was kind of some quick stints and stuff and then obviously we're going to have to see where it goes from here. But that was the plan right there pretty much. It worked out good."

How did Nurse think Embiid looked in his lone preseason action before the regular season begins?

"Pretty good. I thought he moved good, played good, shot it good, passed it good. I didn't see too many negatives out there at all, so that's good," Nurse said.

"The main thing is that he was moving and making good basketball plays. He didn't look that rusty, just in general."

Nurse was most impressed with Embiid's shooting. He chuckled as he talked about Embiid's jumper, amazed by the big man's ability to return from an eight-month layoff and shoot like he'd never missed time in the first place.

Just as impressive was Embiid's willingness to rebrand on the fly. He's practiced with these teammates. He knows how this thing is supposed to work. In many ways, it's still built around him. The Sixers will go as Embiid does.

But they're forging an identity that doesn't rely on Embiid being the catalyst on both ends of the floor.

He sees that and, at least for now, Embiid appears willing to fit into a faster style. Even if it means he takes more of a backseat from time to time.

He logged a handful of assists by throwing touchdown passes to teammates running in transition off turnovers and Minnesota misses. Embiid was willing to oblige their pace.

"I see all these guys. I’m here to help out. According to a lot of your peers, I’m not even a top 100 basketball player in this league," Embiid joked.

"So I guess I just gotta fit in and see where I can help the team win basketball games. If that's playing defense and stretching the floor, that's what I'm going to do. But we got a bunch of athletes. We gotta release them."

Embiid simplified it well. If his athletic teammates don't get the rebound, their job is to run. His job is to try to find them. 

"In a way, that also kind of saves me because if we get early baskets and easy baskets, I don't have to run up and down. I can just let those guys push the pace, attack and, if we don't have anything, I've always trailed anyway in my career, then I can come in and we can get into the offense," Embiid said.

The former MVP treated Friday like any other day. He spent quality time with his family. He took his regular nap. He went to Xfinity Mobile Arena.

And then he took the first step toward rebuilding interest in the Sixers, both locally and nationally.

"But just the fact that I was on the court, was somewhat comfortable, that was enough for me," Embiid said.

One small victory at a time.