Joel Embiid Feels Offseason Film Review Has Paid Off

Joel Embiid broke down a particular part of his off-season prep that has paid off so far.

This season, Joel Embiid has been on another level, which was difficult to imagine following his impressive resume last season that helped him be named the league's Most Valuable Player.

Looking deeper into it, Embiid's scoring numbers have only risen, averaging a league-high 36 points per game, which is up three points from where he ended last season, which has been aided by his ongoing 21-game streak of scoring 30 or more points.

With this improved work rate, it would be a safe guess that Embiid must've put in the work during the offseason, however, that wasn't the case, as the Cameroonian superstar explains that more of his offseason preparation was based on watching film of some all-time greats.

"In the summertime, I don't work out a lot, I just try to make sure that my body is rested, and then towards the beginning of the season, I start doing a few stuff..." opened Embiid, "I think it's all about what I do with Drew, my trainer, just watching a ton of film, not from just big guys, but MJ, Kobe, and all those guys."

Embiid's film review sessions weren't even necessarily limited to the stars of yesteryear, as the 28-year-old took the opportunity to review how his opponents were guarding him, highlighting his improvements in playing around double teams this season.  

Most of the time I just watch a lot of film, I try to see what defenses do, and you know what I'm mostly proud of is... double teams, you know," said Embiid, "I've gotten so much better, you just handling them and whether it's passing on or just attacking before the double comes, but that goes back to just film."

This increase in playmaking instinct when receiving defensive pressure is reflected in Embiid's assists numbers, averaging nearly two more (5.9) than what he did last season (4.2)

As a result of all of this work, Embiid was recently named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the third time this season, while also topping the most recent MVP ladder, being put above Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.