Sixers' Joel Embiid Discusses the Battle With His Back Injury

Joel Embiid dives deep into his recent setback.

Philadelphia 76ers starting center Joel Embiid has been relatively healthy to start the season. Out of 20 games, the big man only missed four. Although he's been available and reliable for the most part, he's still battling nagging injuries.

While Embiid's knee gave him issues at one point, tightness in his back has been the most relevant setback keeping Embiid off the floor. During the third game of the season, Embiid missed his first outing of the year due to back tightness.

At this point, more than a month into the season, he's still battling it. On Monday night, Embiid missed the Sixers' matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to back tightness. Fortunately, he was good to go on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

However, Embiid couldn't make it out of the Lakers matchup without avoiding further stiffness. During the third quarter on Wednesday night, the big man attempted a dunk over Lakers star LeBron James. After a subtle shove, Embiid went crashing to the ground, landing on his already injured back.

After the game, Embiid admitted he wasn't feeling great after the fall, which affected the way he played for the rest of the matchup. "I missed a couple of shots," he said. "I just didn't have the legs. Not because I was tired, which I wasn't, but my back just didn't allow me to dominate the way I've been doing it in fourth quarters."

As expected, Embiid's status for Friday's game was up in the air after Wednesday's win. Although he traveled to Minnesota, the Sixers played with the waiting game. Embiid participated in the team's morning shootaround on Friday, which caused Sixers head coach Doc Rivers to believe he would have his starting center available.

And it turns out he did. Embiid managed to check into Friday night's game for 26 minutes. During that time, he dominated as he went 10-for-19 from the field and 16-for-18 from the free-throw line, totaling for 37 points. After a strong third-quarter showing, Rivers called it a night for Embiid and sat him during the final quarter.

After the game, Embiid revealed he wasn't one-hundred percent. "[My back] has been pretty tight," the star center said. "You gotta keep pushing. I want us to build momentum. We got to keep winning these games. Every single one of them and nights like tonight can help me in the long run when I don’t have to play 30 minutes or more. It’s tight, but that’s not an excuse. You just got to keep it going.”

This season, Embiid has taken a different approach to the game. Knowing his body has been the only thing to hold him back over the last few seasons, he made it a priority to do all that he can to remain in the best shape he can be and avoid long-term injuries. 

“I’m still going back talking to the nutritionists and the people that have been helping me,” he said. “The goal was to start that, and it’s not gonna happen right away. If I had to give a percentage of how I feel, especially working towards the goal that I have, I wouldn’t even say that I’m at 50-percent. I still got a long way to go, and it’s gonna take a while. You got to keep on doing the right things. Obviously, as time goes, it keeps on getting better. I just got to keep that mentality of doing the right thing, and I’m sure in the end, it’s going to end up paying off.”

So far, Embiid's new process has been working. Although the back tightness has been a bit of a roadblock, he still looks more engaged physically, less fatigued even in a fast-paced system, and has taken over games when asked to. The Sixers will remain cautious with how much they utilize Embiid while he's dealing with tightness, but he's not going to allow them to put him on ice. The star center will keep working hard on his treatments and playing like a superstar on the court.

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