Joel Embiid Says He Knows Who Leaked Team Meeting: “You Can’t Expect Me To Be There Again” originally appeared on Fadeaway World.

Even his most painful grief has been thrown in his face. At the start of Embiid's rookie season in 2014, his 13-year-old brother Arthur was hit by a truck and killed. The day Arthur died, Embiid ignored a series of phone calls. When he finally answered, it was terrible news.

Once upon a time, James Harden and Joel Embiid were teammates on the Philadelphia 76ers and made up the most dangerous pick-and-roll duo the NBA had seen in quite some time. The Sixers acquired Harden at the trade deadline during the 2021–22 season and watched as he helped elevate Embiid to his first league MVP trophy in 2022–23.

But as Embiid explained in a new profile from ESPN's Dotun Akintoye, those who lean into the "narrative" about him being a playoff dropper are missing context. They seem to think he's the only star player capable of a rough night now and then when an elite defense is specifically game-planning for them:

Embiid said in the piece that he began therapy last year at the urging of Jameer Nelson, whom the Sixers recently promoted to assistant general manager. The story mentions that Embiid and Nelson have become good friends, which is a pretty big deal when you see the way Akintoye describes how guarded the big man is and how tight he keeps his circle.

How USA Basketball's Grant Hill helped convince Team USA center Joel Embiid not to play for France in the 2024 Olympics.