Joel Embiid has been trying to work his way through a rough stretch, and VJ Edgecombe has made it his job to keep the big man’s confidence intact.
After Embiid awkwardly hit the ground against the Toronto Raptors, the 76ers star has been dealing with a troubling pattern that has followed him through the early part of the season. In the middle of that, Edgecombe has been one of the teammates making sure Embiid doesn’t lose sight of what he still is.
“I tell him all the time, you were the MVP of the league bro. You’re that good.
I always tell him can stop him. There’s not one person in the NBA that can guard you.
You can face up, back to the basket, nobody can guard you. He knows it,” Edgecombe said after Philadelphia's 123-112 win over the Raptors.
Embiid’s night against Toronto offered a little more encouragement. He finished with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, a step forward after failing to reach 20 points in five of his previous six games. Before that, he had a rough outing against Cleveland, scoring six points on 0-of-9 shooting.
Through 10 games, Embiid is averaging 17.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 38% from the field and 12.1% from three-point range. Those numbers are still well below the level he set during his MVP season in 2022-23.
Sixers’ VJ Edgecombe says he never stops encouraging Joel Embiid to remember who he is.
— PHLY Sixers (@PHLY_Sixers) November 13, 2026
“I tell him all the time, you were the MVP of the league bro. You’re that good. I always tell him can stop him. There’s not one person in the NBA that can guard you.
You can face up, back… pic.twitter.com/O4bO4JZ5ch
Even so, Philadelphia has opened the season strongly, and a better version of Embiid would only add to that momentum. For now, Edgecombe is making sure his teammate remembers exactly what he can still be.
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Powell was the kind of veteran stopgap the Sixers could have used as they try to survive the long stretch of the season without overtaxing Embiid. Instead, they will likely have to keep looking for another body and another layer of insurance at center, because the current options do not offer much security if the rotation gets tested again. [Read more 🡒]
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For a team that has already had to navigate absences, the win carried extra value as Philadelphia improved to 10-3 and kept itself on track in the Eastern Conference race. The Sixers also did it with a shortened rotation, while Toronto was missing key pieces of its own, making Embiids early scare feel like the kind of subplot that could have changed the entire feel of the night. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers Got The Relief They Needed After Joel Embiid's Early Scare
Joel Embiid gave the 76ers an early scare against Toronto when he went down with a knee injury, a moment that briefly shifted the mood in a game Philadelphia was already trying to manage without LeBron James in the lineup. The Raptors were shorthanded themselves, missing Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes, but the bigger concern for the Sixers was whether their centerpiece would be able to continue after the opening jolt.
Embiid did return, and Philadelphia steadied itself enough to pull away for a 123-112 win after a sluggish start. Tyrese Maxey and Anfernee Simons helped spark the offense with key plays when the Sixers needed them most, turning what could have been a nervous night into a much-needed result. [Read more 🡒]