Joel Embiid says he was thrilled at the prospect of signing a multi-million dollar contract with the Sixers despite an injury-plagued rookie season.
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The Philadelphia 76ers tanked really hard for years to get Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons on their roster. Their struggles continued for a few more years as Embiid couldn’t play for two seasons after getting drafted. He was always considered injury prone but in hindsight, the Sixers are glad that they took the risk.
Although he only played 31 games in his third season Philly offered him a contract extension with a lot of clauses. Embiid rose to superstar level the subsequent year and the front office took a sigh of relief. He did not turn back ever since.
The 5x All-Star has been the MVP frontrunner for three-straight seasons. Some believe he deserved it last season over Jokic if not for the injury. And with Ben Simmons out, the organization will look to build around him for years to come in hopes to end the 40-year championship drought.
Joel Embiid did not care about the protections in his contract extension
Embiid appeared on Draymond Green‘s podcast recently where he spoke about the MVP race and former teammate Simmons among other things. He always had close ties with the Warriors as Under Armour represents both Stephen Curry and Embiid.
He told Green that he was relieved at the prospect of not having to answer more Ben Simmons questions after the trade. The Cameroon superstar made his distaste for his former teammate pretty clear but said it wasn’t personal. They also discussed the supermax contract he signed with the Sixers this offseason which will keep him in Philly jersey through the 2026-27 season.
This led to JoJo revealing the details of his first contract extension with the Sixers back in 2017. He had only played 31 games before the Sixers offered him $146.5 million for 4 years. He says he did not care about any of the clauses mentioned by his agent in the contract. It gave Philly the power to waive him in case of serious injuries. The seven-foot center just wanted the bag and prove himself as a strong player.
Joel Embiid on signing his first contract extension:
“My agent at the time was going over it and he was saying all these protections in it. I went, ‘I don’t care how much is guaranteed. I’m signing whatever. Their giving me $150M after playing 31 games. They gotta be crazy.’” 🤣
— Philly Nation (@Philly__Nation) March 16, 2022
With the addition of James Harden the Sixers’ odds to win the championship, this season has increased tremendously. Only an unexpected injury to their MVP can falter their plans in the postseason this year.
