Warriors’ Draymond Green Shares Encouraging Message for Joel Embiid

Draymond Green had some encouraging words for Joel Embiid recently.

Jan 30, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) shoots over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

The 2024-2025 NBA season has been full of absences for Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid.

Heading into the new hoops year, Embiid made it clear he is approaching the season with an injury management plan in place. Without the plan being unveiled, Sixers fans found out in real time that Embiid’s plan wasn’t as simple as splitting back-to-backs and getting a rest day here and there.

As the absences piled on throughout the first stretch of the season, Embiid caught a lot of heat from outsiders, leading the Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green to offer some words of encouragement for the seven-time NBA All-Star recently.

Following the Thursday night battle between the Sixers and the Warriors, Draymond Green revealed his message for Embiid.

"I told him to stick with it,” Green said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “I told him I know how it feels for the whole world to be against you. It's hard. Everybody's against him right now as if he did something wrong to their mother, and all he did was live his life, deal with the injuries he's had, tried to be on the court and be the best player he can be, and yet he gets so much hate for that.”

Draymond revealed to @KerithBurke what he told Joel Embiid after the Warriors’ blowout win over the 76ershttps://t.co/P3mmQeM27T

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 3, 2025

Embiid missed the first nine games of the 2024-2025 NBA season. After debuting on November 12, the big man missed the following game. While he managed to play three games in a row in mid-November, swelling and soreness in his knee called for a seven-game absence. By the time the season reached December, Embiid played in just four games.

As frustrating as the situation was, Green encouraged Embiid to continue listening to his body, and not the critics.

“Trust your body. Listen to your body, but just keep going and forget all those people that got something to say,” Green added. “They don't know what it takes. They don't even know what it takes to be great at what they do, but they want to criticize you at what you're great at. But you don't know what it takes to be great, so forget them people. But I said it a little differently."

At this point, Embiid is finding consistency with his availability. After returning from the seven-game absence on December 8, Embiid has missed just three games. In addition to his knee-related concerns, the star center has suffered a sinus fracture and a sprained foot. He’s been playing through both setbacks.

The Golden State game was an embarrassing outing for the Sixers, as they lost by 34 points. However, the presence of Embiid has helped the team in a major way beyond that. In games he’s played since December 8, the Sixers went 7-2. They still have a long way to go to reach their goals, but they are seeing progress nonetheless.