Even with the Philadelphia 76ers getting LeBron James this offseason, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey believes Joel Embiid’s health is the key to unlock everything as the big man “changes everything” for Philly if he’s healthy.
That seems to be the case, at least ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season. And now Maxey wants the Sixers to fully build chemistry with Embiid.
“You can put in more packages. There’s been times where he hasn’t been healthy and we get into the game and now we’re trying to learn on the flow. If you haven’t been playing with a big like Joel, there’s not many… It’s very hard, very difficult to learn certain things,” Maxey told ESPN. “… So, with him being here, we can drill those things over and over. It’s been what, like two, three weeks that we’ve had just drilling and drilling. That’s a good thing.”
Getting into a flow with a big man averaging 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists is certainly a good thing. Playing with him for a full season—the playoffs included—could be the recipe for a championship.
Can Sixers Get a Fully Healthy Embiid?
The question, though, is will Embiid finally be fully fit for an entire season? That’s a valid question to ask for someone whose 10-year career has been marred by injury, the most serious of which concerns Embiid’s knee. For his career, the 32-year-old center has never played 82 games, has played over 60 games just four times, and has averaged only 49 outings a season.
That’s not exactly encouraging numbers for the Sixers. And yet Philly fans might have something to hold onto after Embiid said he was “as confident as I’ve ever been” about his health at the tail end of last season.
“I think, obviously, [my knee] was the biggest concern, and I’m not thinking about it,” he said. “And as long as we keep doing what we’ve been doing, I won’t have to think about it anymore.”
What Embiid and his team are doing seems to be working as the Cameroon-born pivot entered training camp fit and ready to go. And that could give the Sixers—the newcomers, most especially—enough time to figure out how to best play with the former one-time MVP.
