Joel Embiid’s summer makeover is turning heads in Philadelphia, and the latest report points to a version of the 76ers center that looks a lot closer to his old self physically.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Embiid has gotten into the gym early and is back down to his rookie-year weight. Shelburne said, “LeBron is a ceiling-raiser.
He makes role players better. But do you know what he also does for stars?
Those stars want his approval,” Shelburne began. “He stamps them.
And I’ve been hearing Embiid’s getting into the gym early. He’s down to his rookie weight.
Like, this is a new Joel.”
That’s a notable development for a player who weighed about 280 pounds last season. Even with strong offensive numbers, Embiid dealt with knee and oblique injuries, and the idea of him trimming back down to 250 pounds is a meaningful sign for a team that has been watching his health closely for years.
Shelburne also connected Embiid’s approach to the broader effect LeBron James has on teammates and stars around him. “Everybody’s trying to kind of earn LeBron’s approval and respect.
I think there’s an interesting quality to this now in Philly,” Shelburne continued. “I saw this here in Los Angeles in 2020, when Anthony Davis and LeBron James first got together for that full season; they won a championship.
Anthony Davis was like trying to impress LeBron.”
“Like, he played every game. There was a tide lift amongst the stars too with the LeBron James effect. That’s what I’ve been hearing out of Philly so far: this sort of LeBron is one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest, and everybody kind of wants his approval.”
The comparison to Anthony Davis is hard to miss, and LeBron’s impact on teammates has shown up before. The source also points to Luka Doncic’s physical transformation last summer as another example of that influence reaching elite players. For Embiid, that makes this offseason shift even more interesting.
The early signs have apparently been strong on the court as well. Embiid looked sharp at the 76ers’ scrimmage, and the report says he was moving well on both ends of the floor. At 32, he’s said to be in the best shape of his career right now.
That doesn’t erase the bigger question hovering over Philadelphia, though. Tyrese Maxey has already noted that Embiid’s availability could end up defining the season for the 76ers. And even with the encouraging signs, the team is expected to be careful with his workload early in the year.
When Embiid is healthy, he’s still one of the league’s best centers. Last season, despite limited availability and a smaller offensive role behind Maxey, he averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 48.9% from the field and 33.3% from three.
So the report is encouraging, maybe even the most encouraging kind: it’s about movement, conditioning, and commitment. Philadelphia still has to manage the long season ahead, but Embiid’s offseason transformation is at least giving the 76ers reason to believe they’re getting a very different version of him this year.
In Other News...
Joel Embiid Got Pulled Into A Strange LeBron Rumor Fast
The 76ers preseason opener briefly turned into an odd side story when broadcaster Mike Breen said he had heard Joel Embiid was a few minutes late to a recent practice and was confronted by LeBron James. It was the kind of stray detail that can take on a life of its own in October, especially when it involves one of the leagues biggest names and a Philadelphia star already under a bright spotlight as the team starts laying groundwork for the season ahead.
LeBron James later shut the report down on social media, saying Embiid had not been late. So the rumor did not linger long, but it still added a strange wrinkle to a night meant to be about the 76ers getting back into game mode. Philadelphia now moves on to the rest of its preseason schedule and, eventually, the start of the 2026-27 regular season with the usual attention on Embiid and everything that follows him. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers May Have A Low-Risk Answer To Their New Frontcourt Problem
The Clippers decision to waive two-way center Jamarion Sharp has put a familiar kind of low-cost big man on the market at exactly the moment the Sixers need one. Philadelphia has an open two-way roster spot, and with Ariel Hukporti injured, frontcourt depth has become a more immediate concern than it was just a few days ago.
Sharp brings a profile the Sixers could find appealing: a 7-foot-5 developmental center with strong defensive numbers in the G League and the sort of rim protection that can at least help stabilize minutes in a pinch. The question now is whether Philadelphia sees enough upside to use that two-way slot on another project, or whether it keeps looking for a more ready-made answer to its frontcourt problem. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Love Is Giving The 76ers A Roster Problem They'd Love
Caleb Love arrived in Philadelphia on a two-way deal, but he has already started making that arrangement feel temporary. After a solid rookie season with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he carved out a real rotation role, Love has carried that momentum into camp and looked like a player who belongs in a bigger conversation. In a recent preseason game, he put up 15 points and added contributions across the board, giving the Sixers another guard option with some two-way versatility.
For a team that is always balancing immediate expectations with long-term roster flexibility, that kind of production creates a good problem. Love has shown enough early to make the Sixers think about whether his role should grow if this keeps up, and whether a standard NBA contract might become the natural next step. For now, Philadelphia gets to keep evaluating, but the early returns are making it harder to treat him like just another depth piece. [Read more 🡒]