Joel Embiid candidly acknowledges NBA coach Drew Hanlen

The Philadelphia 76ers‘ Joel Embiid has been struggling with knee injuries for several seasonshaving played a total of just 50 games since the start of the last campaign. After undergoing left meniscus surgery in January 2024, the 2023 MVP went through some tough times, including the 2024 Olympics, where he played a key role for Team USA, returning with a gold medal.

And well, Drew Hanlen, widely regarded as the best skills coach in the NBA, recently detailed the sheer determination Embiid has shown despite his constant injury absences.

“People didn’t understand, so the Olympics happen. Obviously people know that he, you know, kind of dragged himself through the Olympics, but that was his chance to really win. You know, he won the gold medal. Of course, they were a loaded team, but they don’t win that, that gold medal without him at the Serbia game, you know?” Hanlen said per post on X by ClutchPoints, referencing the Olympic semifinals that Team USA won 95-91.

“We went back to the lab. And he said, ‘I feel like myself again.’ And the next game he had 39, and since then he has averaged 30. That’s how good he is.”

NBA coach Drew Hanlen on Joel Embiid looking like his old self again 🗣

(via @KevinOConnor)pic.twitter.com/HkuvvOIFl1

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 18, 2026

Hanlen revealed that Embiid simply chose not to practice skills after his return, instead prioritizing his health.

“After that, until this season, in the middle of the season, I think it was Dec. 10, we didn’t work out one time. This is a guy that I’ve worked out with more times than anybody because he’s obsessed with basketball, but he, he couldn’t work out because he was like, ‘You know what? “I have to get my health right,” Hanlen said.

Embiid, who remains on a minutes restriction, effectively battled his lack of basketball practice after being forced to nurse his knee. Hanlen cited this behind-the-scenes work as one of the reasons he struggled in the first part of the current campaign.

Drew Hanlen claims Embiid “feels like himself again.”

Hanlen went on to claim that Embiid was forced to use NBA games as a means to get back in shape, ultimately choosing to grind it out as “old school Joel.”

“And I remember at one point he said, ‘Hey, I know I shouldn’t,’ but, like, he said, ‘Come up, we’ve got to figure out my jump. My midrange is off, which is never off. My triple is off, which is never off. And so we did a workout, one workout, and we, like, grinded, like, old school Joel, for about an hour and a half, probably shouldn’t have done that, but it’s like we’re back in the lab, and he said, “I feel myself again.” he said.

This has caused him to return to his previous levels, which Hanlen is apparently convinced of.

“And in the next game he had thirty-nine, and since then he’s averaged about thirty. That’s how good he is,” he revealed.

With the 76ers also coming through a 25-game suspension for Paul George, Embiid becomes even more important as they try to upgrade their current record of 30-24. The season is far from over, and despite Embiid’s recent absences, Hanlen’s claims certainly give fans plenty of reason to be optimistic.