Joel Embiid Discusses His NBA Legacy, 'I Care About How I'm Going to be Remembered'

Joel Embiid hopes his legacy in the NBA won't be defined by the injuries that have limited him to 452 games in 11 years since he was drafted with the No. 3 overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Speaking to ESPN's Dotun Akintoye, Embiid explained caring about how he is going to be thought of as a basketball player when his career comes to an end.

"I care about how I'm going to be remembered when it comes to basketball, but not as a man," Embiid said. "As a man, you can't tell me nothing."

Embiid has been open in the past about how much of a toll physical injuries have taken on his mental health. As he was trying to work his way back from a knee injury early last season, he admitted to being someone who likes to please people:

"If I'm being honest, when you've got the support from your family, people close to you, teammates, guys like (Paul George), that's the reason why you want to keep doing it and you want to keep figuring it out. That's who you play for. The people who care about you, people that support you, people that push you. I have a hard time disappointing people, which I'm working on. When you've got that type of support, it's kind of hard to feel bad about yourself. I like to please people. You've just got to keep going."

When Embiid suffered a torn meniscus during a game against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 30, 2024, after he missed the previous two games with a knee injury, The Athletic's Sam Amick reported people in the Sixers organization felt like he forced himself to play "because the whole basketball world was screaming in his ear."

There's a level of frustration from everyone because Embiid has been unable to reliably play in games due to injuries. He's frustrated because of the time missed, especially in the midst of his prime, and fans get frustrated because a great player is unable to play.

Embiid is now a position where no one really knows what to expect from him going forward. The seven-time All-Star has played just 58 games over the past two seasons combined primarily due to knee injuries.

Per The Athletic's Tony Jones, 76ers officials are "optimistic" will be ready to play when the 2025-26 regular season begins.

Even when Embiid does play again, it's unclear if he will return to his MVP form. The 31-year-old averaged 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and shot a career-low 44.4 percent from the field in 19 starts last season.

The best version of Embiid is a top-five player. He averaged more than one point per minute played (1,353 points in 1,309 minutes) during the 2023-24 season prior to tearing his meniscus.

There is a path for the 76ers to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference next season, but it requires Embiid to be healthy and play at least 65 games. He has only reached that threshold twice in the past nine seasons.