5 Ways Joel Embiid Has Proven He's Going to be a Star
Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers has proven he has potential to be a star. Here are five ways he has shown he has star potential.
Joel Embiid has proven so far this season that if there’s any young player in the league who is going to be a long-time star, it’s him. While there still are worries of injuries popping up here and there, Embiid has shown very early in his career — both in the NBA and in general — that he’s got the base skill-set to be a star.
Jim Adair of Crossing Broad recently did the math, and concluded that it’s likely that Embiid has played less than 150 games of basketball in his entire life. That’s actually pretty crazy considering everything he’s been able to do so far in his very young career.
To Sixers fans, he’s the foundation of their hope. He is going to be everything they want him to be over the next few seasons, at least they hope. He has shown that he can dominate in the paint, muscle other players around, and also hit shots from beyond the 3-point arc. With Karl-Anthony Towns taking the league by storm last year, Sixers fans deserve to get excited over the fact that they have a similar player in their arsenal.
But what will it take for the league to consider him a star? He’s already on his way to being one in Philly.
Embiid hasn’t really proven that he’s worthy of star status in the NBA just yet, and we shouldn’t have expected him to with less than 20 games played. But he’s shown us a few things that lead us to believe he’s on the right track. Here’s a few of them.
Dec 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Orlando Magic center Bismack Biyombo (11) pressures Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) in the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Orlando Magic won 104-88. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Good company with statistics
So far this season, Embiid is averaging 18.7 points and 7.9 rebounds in just 23.2 minutes per game. Per 36 minutes that comes out to 29.1 points, and 12.3 rebounds. Without any context whatsoever, those stats look very, very good.
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When looking at rookies since the NBA has come about, only one player (Wilt Chamberlain) has been able to close their rookie season averaging more points per 36 minutes (29.2, just 0.1 more than Embiid’s current standing) and just eight players have been able to finish above Embiid in rebounds per 36 minutes.
Players (not far) above him in the rebound column are Shaquille O’Neal, Willis Reed, and Chamberlain again. That’s some pretty good company. And looking at players below him in points, we’ve got players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, Blake Griffin, and Larry Bird.
I mean, those names would be solid to have around you in terms of being in the same conversation, but to be above them statistically is just wild. Now, of course, we must consider that Embiid has appeared in less than 20 games in his career so far, so a lot could change statistically even by the end of this season. If he can keep his pace anywhere near the same level, though, he’s going to be set up very well based on the company that his statistics rank near.
Let’s also remember that Embiid is doing this after missing two straight seasons of competitive basketball at any level due to injury.
Also of note — Karl-Anthony Towns, last year’s rookie of the year, was below Embiid in both points and rebounds per 36 minutes last season. Embiid is also above Towns’ rookie season so far in points per game, but not rebounds.
Nov 7, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and forward Dario Saric (9) battle with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Leads his rookie class by far
A true mark of a star is being able to launch yourself well above your peers. There’s a whole lot of season left, so it’s definitely too early to crown a lock for the Rookie of the Year award just yet, but Embiid is stating his case very early.
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Embiid’s 18.7 points per game nearly double the next-highest scoring rookie Jamal Murray (9.5 points per game) and his 7.9 rebounds are a decent amount ahead of the runner up (his teammate Dario Saric with 6.0 per game). Embiid is the only player taking more than 10 shots per game in this rookie class, and out of players taking five shots or more per game, he comes in third in shooting percentage.
Out of all rookies taking at least one 3-pointer per game, Embiid has the highest 3-point percentage at 51.4 percent, better than the runner up in Davis Bertans by over six percent. Let’s not forget that Embiid is over 7-feet tall, and his hands are huge, thus making 3-point shots a bit more of a challenge for him than smaller players in the league.
Side note: Dario Saric comes in at eighth in that list of 3-point percentage among rookies shooting at least one 3-pointer per game. That seems like cause for concern, but we should remember that this is Saric’s first time dealing with a 3-point line as far out as the NBA 3-point line.
If the Rookie of the Year voting took place today, there is no justification for voting for a player not named Joel Embiid. The next best player all-around seems to be Dario Saric, his teammate, and Saric is really not having an earth-shattering rookie season by any means.
This all could easily be due to the fact that this year’s rookie class is pretty bad so far, so I decided to expand the rankings to last year’s rookies as well. Looking at a pool of both last year’s rookies and this year’s, Embiid leads in points per game, is a runner-up to Towns in rebounds per game, and is a runner-up to Josh Huestis in 3-point percentage per game among those rookies shooting at least one 3-pointer per game. Embiid also leads this pool of rookies in blocks as well.
One thing to keep in mind is that things can change over the course of a season. Last year, Jahlil Okafor started off the year looking like a solid rookie and a decent nominee for Rookie of the Year, but later injuries caused him to fall out of that conversation. Kristaps Porzingis took over the Rookie of the Year conversation towards the middle of the year, but over the course of the season, KAT turned into the front-runner.
These season-in-review awards are, as they should be, less about sensationalism and more about season-long consistency. Let’s see how well Embiid can keep this up.
Nov 21, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) along with forward Ersan Ilyasova (7) and guard T.J. McConnell (1) and forward Robert Covington (33) talk during a break in action against the Miami Heat in the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 101-94. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Leads his team
Leading your class is an important quality of being a star, but perhaps the most important quality is being a team leader. Embiid is all of that and more so far, and should be able to be that for years to come.
Of course, it helps Embiid to show he can carry a team when his usage percentage is closing in on 40 percent, meaning that 40 percent of Sixers plays involve Embiid when he’s on the floor, but that’s all for a reason. When Embiid is on the floor, he’s far and away the best and most dominant player the Sixers have.
That might seem like it’s not saying a whole lot, but in reality, it’s pretty defining. After all, the Sixers do have some pretty solid players in Sergio Rodriguez and Gerald Henderson, and considering that Okafor was able to keep his usage rate high last year due to him getting a bulk of the offensive sets — whether fans liked it or not — is telling that perhaps Embiid is the big to go with from here on out.
As the Sixers get more pieces to build around Embiid, and Simmons come back, that usage rate is bound to dip, and as more players begin to score (Simmons, mostly) his point per game will dip as well, but he will still be an inclusive part of most of the plays once he learns how to pass well and once the Sixers get some good teamwork going.
Embiid may not be the sole leader of the team as they inch towards competitiveness, but he will be a leader of the team, and that’s really important for the Sixers.
Nov 21, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts as time winds down on a victory against the Miami Heat at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 101-94. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Fan captivation
Star players have a certain type of charisma that captivates fans. Embiid has demonstrated that in the two years leading up to his NBA debut, and has kept that going since he played in his first game. When he’s on the floor, there is no other Sixers player worth watching, and in many cases, out of the ten players on the floor, Embiid is the one who is being watched the most.
That doesn’t just happen for no reason. There’s a reason people are watching him, and it’s because he’s showing star potential early.
We see the same captivation from other star players, especially in Philly. Think back to the last truly captivating Sixers star — Allen Iverson. Although he captivated fans with his press conference antics, his on-court play was, most of the time, very captivating as well. He drew in the same types of crowds that Embiid has drawn in so far, and people would come not necessarily to see the Sixers, but to see Iverson.
Around the league, that holds true. Stephen Curry draws a massive following for his pre-game warmups and his pre-game shoot-arounds. People drive for hours to see players like LeBron James play. Embiid has the potential to do the same thing. Heck, I’m carving out some time later this month during my vacation to see a Sixers game and see Joel Embiid. He’s captivated me, for sure.
From his incredible play thus far to his hilarious Twitter and Instagram antics, he’s a player that fans really love to watch and pay attention to. That’s a big quality of a star player in the NBA.
Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The two-year drive
Above all, what we should take away from Embiid’s star potential and how he has shown that he can be a star is the fact that he’s been on this journey to the NBA for so long, and never given up. When faced with challenges, whether we do give up or not, often times we as humans at least consider the possibility of just giving up.
Embiid doesn’t seem like giving up or giving in was ever an option for him. The start of his career was tough. He was sidelined from his entire first season as an NBA player due to injury, and then, despite projections that he would be back in what should have been his second season, missed that one as well.
Can you imagine? You were once projected to be a top overall pick in the NBA Draft, and here you are, two years later, still rehabbing the same injury. That has to be devestating. The same questions we asked were likely bouncing around in Joel’s head.
Will I ever play?
Will my foot actually heal?
Should I just give up the game now?
Yes, yes, and no were the answers to those questions, apparently.
Embiid, even if he did ever come across those questions, didn’t let them stay too long. It helped that he had an incredibly supportive coaching staff around him pushing him to be his best. It helped that
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