Joel Embiid apparently wants folks to see that he hasn’t just been sitting at home while the NBA season has been suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sixers’ All-Star center posted a photo to his Instagram story on Saturday of him lying down on the court, wiped out after a “quarantine session.”
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On a conference call Tuesday, general manager Elton Brand said the following when asked about the logistics of conditioning and rehab for Sixers players:
Ben [Simmons] and others have been given permission to use our facility. It’s essential that they have the proper equipment to workout and rehab, so he’s been doing that ever since the first week. We were able to get him access there. Joel Embiid’s been working out. He’s conditioning, he’s focused, he’s asking about when his trainer can come in, when he can get on the court. So I wouldn’t bet against him. He’s going to be ready and ramped up.
Brand said he was “very optimistic” Simmons would be able to play if the 2019-20 season resumes. As for Embiid, he was healthy the last time the Sixers played, posting 30 points and 14 rebounds on March 11 vs. the Pistons after missing the previous five games with a left shoulder sprain.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojanrowski, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on a conference call Friday that there would be a training camp of at least three weeks if the league does play again this season. Teams in states where state-at-home orders have been lifted were permitted to hold individual, voluntary workouts starting Friday.
NBA
The Sixers are not one of those teams, though Brand indicated they have “backup plans” and mentioned 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware, the home of the Delaware Blue Coats, as a possibility.
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