76ers' Embiid won't force himself to play to meet MVP requirement. If he misses out, 'so be it'

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ime Udoka in his one year as a 76ers assistant got close enough to Joel Embiid to earn an invitation to the MVP's wedding to Anne de Paula last July.

Udoka also saw up close in that one year that Embiid — already an All-Star and one of the best big men in the game — wasn't reaching his potential. Udoka saw a player that “stayed up playing video games, eating cereal” rather than being in tune with what was needed to play — to dominate, really, and carry a franchise — every night in peak physical condition.

Udoka was an assistant for the Spurs for years before he joined former 76ers coach Brett Brown's staff in 2019-2020. Udoka coached LaMarcus Aldridge and Tim Duncan and was blunt in his scouting report with Embiid: He was good. But not that good.

“I told him straight up, he has as much or more talent as those guys,” Udoka said. “But it's a level of consistency. I was pretty honest with him. I saw him messing around at shootarounds and not always focusing. So I tried to get on him as far as that.”