The Process might just be completed this year with Paul George joining the Sixers. Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid have been quite dominant lately, and adding a superstar will completely solidify their roster. However, this does not mean that PG will have the most attention. In fact, according to Maxey, Embiid will still face double teams, trap defenses, and all sorts of tactics. And why not? The Cameroonian once dropped 70 points. Clearly, he can’t be left unnoticed near the paint at all.

Apart from dominating himself, Embiid has done a great job of being vocal and involving his teammates as a leader. And all of this has been backed by Maxey’s role as a scorer, guided by Joel. In a recent episode of Paul George’s podcast, Maxey talked about how the Process likes to motivate his teammates. “When you’re the best player, your franchise player is connected, he’s going out there, he’s showing love to his teammates, he’s motivating his teammates. Now Joel motivates his teammates in different ways, you know what I’m saying. He tells me I suck when I dont, like, ‘Bro you suck right now I need you to pick it up’. But that’s good, like I need that, you know what I’m saying, we need that,” said Maxey.

At the end of the day, Embiid is the one who takes things under his control. Involving teammates and motivating them is just a part of it. Now, as PG comes in, it will be an interesting combination to see on the floor. Embiid’s leadership will still be as important and more crucial this time around. The franchise has exhausted most of its options to build a team around Embiid. There have been multiple All-Stars, including James Harden, Jimmy Butler, and others who came around but didn’t gel so well.

While expectations are high, the squad will not make a title run right out of the gate. They will need time to adjust and try various rotations with PG and Embiid. Regardless, the Sixers are one of the biggest threats in the East. Now, there are a lot of positives around Embiid, but not at the moment. The center has been facing backlash for playing in the Olympics. To put things into perspective, his recent performance against Serbia wasn’t impressive, and he’s also receiving criticism for not representing France. However, the reason behind the Sixers’ recent performance might surprise you.

Joel Embiid was sick following the opening ceremony

Steve Kerr cleared things up after Embiid’s poor performance in the first group-stage game. The big man put up 4 points in 11 minutes of action. But what was the actual reason behind this? As coach Kerr would put it, Embiid has been sick for the past few days, and his struggles didn’t surprise him. There wasn’t any update regarding his health prior to the game, but he may have been down following the opening ceremony, as the Cameroonian was present with all the athletes on the boat.

Team USA will play what seems like the toughest matchup of the group stage on Thursday. The Sudanese will return in hopes of getting past the Americans unlike last time, coming off a win over Puerto Rico. It will be interesting to see whether Joel Embiid will be available to start the game, given his recent health status. What are your thoughts on Embiid’s performance? Do you think he’ll answer the haters in the next game? Let us know in the comments.

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