Dwight Howard Admits to Being ‘Reprimanded’ By 76ers For Being Too Physical With Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid’s career has hit another unfortunate bump. The 2023 league MVP was shut down by the Philadelphia 76ers for the remainder of the NBA season due to ongoing issues with his left knee. That has effectively ended any push the Eastern Conference team was hoping to make for the playoffs.

It’s a tough break for Embiid. One that may be rooted in a bigger problem. Dwight Howard recently appeared on Sirius XM NBA radio to weigh in on Embiid’s misfortune and recount his days as his teammate in the 2020-2021 season.

Superman did notice something during his short stint in Philly. According to Howard, practice is what molded a player for battle. But the team was very careful with Embiid even during training.

“You had less injuries back then, but you had more practices. Harder practices,” he stated, preaching that practicing hard got an athlete into game shape, both mentally and physically.

This didn’t seem to be the Sixers’ mindset back then when dealing with Embiid. They let Howard know that when he got too rough with their franchise player.

“When I was there, there were a lot of times when I got reprimanded for being too physical in practice,” stated Superman. “‘You’re too physical with Joel’. And I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m only being physical because he’s about to get this in the game’.”

“When I was in there, there were a lot of times when I got reprimanded [for being too physical with Embiid]”

NBA Champ, Dwight Howard, on how physicality has changed in this era@TermineRadio | @JumpShot8 | @DwightHoward pic.twitter.com/GcsA2bw3Gh

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 6, 2025

Embiid’s fragility is the reason for this overcautious approach. He’s become too injury-prone to be able to waste potentially good reps in practice. And the latest setback with the knee could be the biggest hurdle he’s faced yet.

However, the reason he could be so injury-prone is due to treatment exactly like what Howard mentioned. Physical toughness and mental toughness go hand in hand. And right now, Embiid’s confidence has taken its worst hit yet in both areas.

Howard previously pitched how Embiid should approach his career

As a fellow big man who received his fair share of criticism, Howard knows what Embiid is going through. But he does have a solution. One that he believes will help transition the Sixers superstar into an NBA champion.

On a recent edition of his Above The Rim with DH, Howard said that Embiid should take fewer minutes during the regular season and instead ramp it up come playoff time.

“He can be more effective in less minutes,” said Howard. “Playing harder and more aggressive in less minutes instead of playing a longer period of time and still trying to be aggressive but then take moments off.” 

Howard is speaking from experience. He himself transitioned from a dominant center to an effective role player in his later years to preserve his career. It was this type of transition that landed him on the Lakers in 2020, where he won his lone NBA Championship.

This advice was drastically different from DeMarcus Cousins’. Boogie suggested that Embiid drop a ton of weight, and utilize his shooting skills to adapt to the pace of today’s game. He believed this would also help him overcome the issues he’s had with his knee.

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

Read More