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How the Sixers Celebrated Joel Embiid's Birthday at Morning Shootaround

The Philadelphia 76ers are scheduled to return to the court on Wednesday night. Following a back-to-back set of games, which resulted in a win on the road

Justin Grasso

How the Sixers Celebrated Joel Embiid's Birthday at Morning Shootaround
How the Sixers Celebrated Joel Embiid's Birthday at Morning Shootaround /

The Philadelphia 76ers are scheduled to return to the court on Wednesday night. Following a back-to-back set of games, which resulted in a win on the road against the Orlando Magic and a tight loss at home against the Denver Nuggets, the Sixers got the day off on Tuesday to rest.

Now, they are set to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road on Wednesday night. Early on Wednesday morning, the Sixers took the court to participate in a morning shootaround session.

When the players came out to start warming up, several of them were seen wearing T-Shirts with an older picture of the team's All-Star center, Joel Embiid, as a way to celebrate the MVP candidate's birthday on Wednesday.

The Scene in Cleveland

Matisse Thybulle, Paul Millsap, Georges Niang, and DeAndre Jordan all rocked the Embiid-themed shirt before shootaround in Cleveland, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey.

On Wednesday, Embiid celebrates his 28th birthday. He'll spend his big day playing against a familiar opponent in the Cavaliers.

The first time Embiid and the Sixers went to battle with the Cavs was right before the 2022 NBA All-Star break when the Cavaliers paid a visit to Philadelphia.

Embiid, who checked into the game for 32 minutes, scored a game-high of 40 points as the Sixers cruised to a 103-93 victory over Cleveland.

A couple of weeks later, the Cavaliers returned to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to face the Sixers once again. While the Cavaliers played much better in that outing, the Sixers' big second-half performance sent the Cavs back home with a 125-119 loss.

Now, the two teams will re-visit their regular-season series on Wednesday night in Cleveland for the first time this year. While a rest day could've been in the cards for Embiid, it seems the now 28-year-old center is looking to battle it out with his team on his birthday as he's in search of another victory.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_. 

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

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