Heading into the season, few expected to see Joel Embiid back in starring roles among the league's top players. The fact that he missed the All-Star Game and is far from MVP contention wouldn't have surprised anyone before the season. Yet everything he's done recently has changed that perception.
From "washed up" to a dominant force making the Philadelphia 76ers look like legitimate contenders, it didn't take long to remind everyone just how good Embiid truly is. Even when dominating as he has lately, it feels like Joel could do even more, giving Nick Nurse's team a whole new dimension.
At the start of the season, things looked uncertain, and it seemed another injury-plagued year was possible. However, Embiid's personal skills trainer, Drew Hanlen, who has worked with many NBA stars over the years, recalled a key moment that marked the turning point this season in an interview with Kevin O'Connor .
"So the Olympics happened, obviously, people know he was kind of dragging himself through the Olympics, but it was a chance for him to actually win," Hanlen recalled . "He won a gold medal, of course, it was a loaded team, but they don't win that gold medal without him in the Serbia game. After that, all the way until this season, mid-season, I think it was like December 10th, we did one workout. This is a guy that I've worked out more times than anybody else because he is obsessed with basketball."
"He wasn't able to practice. And I remember at one point he was like, 'Hey, I know I'm not really supposed to, but we've got to figure out my jump shot.'" Hanlen added. "'My mid-range is off, which is never off. My three is off, which is never off.' And so we did a workout, and we like grinded, like old-school Joel. Should not have probably done it, but we got back and he's like, 'I feel like myself again.' The next game he had 39, and since then he's averaging like 30. That's how good he is."
Looking back at that Serbia game, people had forgotten that after Stephen Curry 's nine 3-pointers and LeBron James ' triple-double, Embiid was the X-factor with 19 points and four rebounds on 8-11 shooting and 2-3 from deep.
Not only was Joel the second-highest scorer on his team and third overall, but he also managed to contain Nikola Jokic , holding him to 17 points on 7-17 shooting and 0-6 from deep, while putting him in foul trouble with four fouls and applying immense pressure down the stretch. Even injured, Embiid played a masterclass against his biggest rival at the center position, completely disrupting Jokic's usual rhythm in crunch time.
Fast forward to today, and we finally see glimpses of the player who, at the right moment, decided that something needed to change, and since then, he's reaped the rewards of his work. In his last 10 games, the Cameroonian center is averaging 33.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 0.9 blocks on 52.9 percent from the field, 52.9 percent from deep and 86.9 percent from the free-throw line.
He's the league's leading scorer in that stretch, the most efficient 3-point shooter, and the 76ers have gone 7-3. They currently hold sixth place in the East, and given Embiid's form, don't be surprised if they climb higher by season's end. When the playoffs arrive, few teams would want to face them in the early rounds.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Feb 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
