“The Process” is channeling “The Answer.”
Although ruled out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, Philadelphia 76ers’ prized big man Joel Embiid has given the “City of Brotherly Love” something to look forward to.
His undeniable impact on the basketball-crazed city—which has been missing since the Allen Iverson era—was immortalized in a recent cover issue of Slam magazine.
Philly’s next superstar won’t play again this year, but The Process is just beginning.@JoelEmbiid covers SLAM 207: https://t.co/RkBYCnrple pic.twitter.com/Tw11197uyP
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) March 7, 2017
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) March 7, 2017
The former Kansas Jayhawk even paid homage to the Hall of Famer by donning his retired No. 3 jersey during a brief behind-the-scenes preview of the shoot.
#TheProcess is just getting started.
Behind-the-scenes with @JoelEmbiid from our latest cover shoot: https://t.co/RkBYCnrple pic.twitter.com/QxqdDQbeHN
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) March 7, 2017
Meanwhile, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Adam Figman, addressed Embiid’s season-ending injury and its apparent poor timing of the issue’s release.
“I know, I know: Rough timing,” he wrote in a separate report in SLAM.
“Hey, it happens. You come up with a great idea, you execute it as well as you could possibly hope to (thank you, Sixers PR) and sometime between the magazine getting shipped off to the printer and the thing hitting newsstands you learn that your new cover star has been declared out for the season with a torn meniscus. Yikes.”
Before hurting his meniscus, Embiid was tearing up the league with 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 blocks per game in limited minutes, and was very well on his way to winning the Rookie of the Year award.
His predecessor, Iverson, meanwhile, remains as one of the most beloved figures in the Philly area, leading the team to the NBA Finals in 2001.
Despite his diminutive size and frame, AI brought an undeniable swagger to the league and was a one-time NBA MVP, four-time scoring champion and 11-time NBA All-Star. Khristian Ibarrola /ra