National Basketball Association

Joel Embiid Says Game Day Will be "Just a regular day"

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been waiting years to make his regular season debut. But his first game will be, “just a regular day,” he says.

Philadelphia 76ers rookie center Joel Embiid has been waiting over two years to make his NBA debut. He was drafted by the Sixers in the 2014 NBA Draft, but injury complications have kept him from seeing a real regular season game.

On Wednesday, however, Embiid is expected to finally make his regular season debut after having a spectacular preseason with the Sixers. Although his statistics were influenced heavily by the Sixers aiming to put the ball in his hands as much as possible while he was on the floor, he averaged 11.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game during the preseason.

He looked like he had just come out of his collegiate career in Kansas in some instances. In other instances, he even looked better, especially with all the added muscle he’s put on over the past few years since being drafted.

One would assume that Wednesday night is going to be huge for Embiid. He and the Sixers will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in front of a likely sellout crowd, and thousands more at home on national television.

According to Embiid, however, that’s not the case.

#Sixers Embiid on his day Wednesday for opener. pic.twitter.com/7mIlkrcVeY

— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) October 24, 2016

“It’s just gonna be a regular day, just wake up, eat breakfast, come get some shots,” Embiid told Sixers media members.

It looks like, days before his first game on Wednesday, he’s already trying to lock in mentally and make sure that he’s in a serious state of mind, which is good to see. If he really isn’t making much of the first game on Wednesday, we should expect to see a huge game from Embiid, since he’s minimizing all of his jitters.

Regardless of if Embiid has nervousness or not on Wednesday, it’s going to be great for fans to finally see Embiid play in the regular season, and great for Embiid to finally play in the regular season.