VJ Edgecombe backs Joel Embiid through slump: ‘Nobody can stop you’

VJ Edgecombe keeps reminding Joel Embiid who he is. A rough shooting stretch hasn’t changed the message.

“I always tell him, ‘Yeah, you were MVP of the league, bro; you’re that good. You’re that good,’” Edgecombe said, via Fadeaway World.

“I always tell him, ‘Nobody can stop you. There’s not one person out there who can guard you. You can face up; you can play with your back to the basket. Bro, nobody can guard you.’ So, he knows it.”

Embiid finished with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists in the Sixers’ 123-112 win over the Raptors. He shot 7-of-17 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point attempts, leaving him 2-of-29 from deep over his last 10 games.

The shooting struggles have given Philadelphia plenty to sort out. But Embiid’s night also included a more immediate concern when he went down clutching his knee late in the first quarter.

He returned midway through the second, much to Edgecombe’s relief.

“It sucks. It sucks to see,” Edgecombe said. “I’m always kind of pessimistic at times because you never know what happened when someone’s just lying on the floor, especially when I didn’t see what happened.”

“But for him to go back and then come back out shows his heart. He could have just sat out, but that shows his heart.”

Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 27 points. Embiid gave them enough inside the arc to contribute to the win, even with his outside shot still missing.

Edgecombe sees something to build on.

“He’s starting to find his rhythm,” he said. “I said he had to get his focus and timing back, but he’s starting to find his rhythm.”

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