PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers welcomed Joel Embiid back to the floor on Sunday for Game 4 against the Boston Celtics as they were hoping to welcome him back to the floor in an effort to get back in the series. Instead, the Celtics earned a rather easy 128-96 win and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
On a positive note, the Sixers getting Embiid back is a big boost for this team. It’s amazing he is even able to get on the floor following such a major surgery. When considering the timeline for NBA players in the past who have undergone the procedure, the big fella is way ahead of schedule.
With that being said, it has taken a lot for Embiid to get back on the floor. After the loss to the Celtics, he opened up on his recovery, beginning with how it went down back in early April on the road trip:
Embiid on when he began to feel the problem
“It first started in San Antonio. Stomach started hurting, and I never had stomach pain before, but I thought I ate something bad. They had me try some food from Texas. Since they’re from there. So, I thought it was, I guess, a stomach virus or something. So, I start feeling it during the game, and then the next day we have practice. I go to practice, and a good conversation with the team. So, you know, it was pretty bad, but I was gonna take it easy during practice because it was pretty bad.
We had a good conversation with the team about what we need to do. So, I kind of wanted to send a message, and go out there, practice really hard, and by the time I got back to the hotel, yeah, it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. That same night before the game, I didn’t want to bother these guys because they were sleeping, but, it got to the point that I couldn’t sleep, and I was just up until like, 4 in the morning and I was like ‘Yeah, I need help’. You go to the bathroom. You can’t poop. Nothing’s coming out. Can’t even walk. That’s when I had to tell them, I’m like, something is very wrong here. I don’t like the hospital. All those MRIs and CT scans, but I got to the point where it was really bad where it was like, ‘Alright, I don’t know what a stomach virus is supposed to feel like, but yeah, something else is going on,’ and then that’s when we had to go to the hospital, and that’s when we found out that was going on.”
Embiid expands on the appendicitis
“I mean, when it first started, I couldn’t walk. Even getting to the hospital. Dealing with some of the stuff that came from it. Just adjusting and getting through that. I don’t wanna get into the details, but it’s been tough, but that’s life. Even when it happens, you look at it, you’re like ‘OK, playoffs are here.’ You feel pretty good going into the playoffs and then, all of a sudden, this thing happens. Some things you can’t control. What am I gonna do? Cry about it? No. just take it and move on and try to do the best job possible to give yourself the best chance to come back and play.”
Embiid on dealing with yet another obstacle
“When you’ve been through it so much, you kind of have the balance of, ‘OK, this is another thing. Gotta move on. It hurts.‘ It sucks, but you go, you probably go through a couple of days where like you feel bad for yourself and then right back to it. Are you going to give up? Or are you going to try to come back as early as possible? So, yeah, I think it sucks, but you can’t give up. You gotta keep pushing and not feel bad for yourself. Just try to do the best job possible.”
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers’ Joel Embiid details return from appendectomy after Game 4 loss