This week in 2016: Joel Embiid finally debuts with 20 points in 22 minutes after two lost seasons

Ten years ago this week, Joel Embiid finally played an NBA game. On Wednesday, October 26, 2016, more than two years after the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him third overall out of Kansas, the 22-year-old center started the season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Wells Fargo Center and scored 20 points in 22 minutes.

The 76ers lost, 103-97. The result was almost beside the point for the crowd of 20,487. After two full seasons lost to foot injuries, the player who had become the face of Philadelphia’s long rebuild was on the floor, and he looked like he belonged there.

Embiid is set to begin his 11th season on the floor this week, with the 76ers opening at the Knicks on Tuesday night. Here is how the first one started.

• Joel Embiid (Philadelphia, No. 3 pick in 2014), Wednesday, October 26, 2016: Thunder 103, 76ers 97 at the Wells Fargo Center. 20 points (6-16 FG, 1-3 3P, 7-8 FT), 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 22:25 as a starter.
• By quarter: Oklahoma City 23-28-18-34; Philadelphia 24-27-24-22. The game was tied 51-51 at halftime, and the 76ers led 75-69 after three before the Thunder won the fourth quarter 34-22.
• Also debuting: Dario Šarić started for Philadelphia and scored 5 points with 7 rebounds; Domantas Sabonis started for Oklahoma City and scored 5.
• Top scorers: Russell Westbrook 32 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists; Enes Kanter (now Enes Freedom) 17 and 12 off the bench; Steven Adams 16. For Philadelphia, Nik Stauskas 13, Sergio Rodríguez 12 with 9 assists, Robert Covington 10, Jerami Grant 10.

Two years of waiting

Philadelphia took Embiid with the third pick of the 2014 draft, behind Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, knowing he was hurt. A broken bone in his right foot kept him out of the 2014-15 season, and a second foot surgery wiped out 2015-16. The 76ers went 10-72 in that second season. Their center, the one they had built the long plan around, had not played a single minute.

By opening night 2016 the team was still being careful. Before the game, the 76ers’ official account posted that Embiid would be held to about 20 minutes and relayed head coach Brett Brown’s pregame message: “It’s opening night, and Joel Embiid is going to play.”

He started at center next to Šarić, another 2014 first-round pick finally arriving. Šarić had been taken 12th by Orlando, his rights went to Philadelphia on draft night, and he spent two more seasons in Europe before coming over. The two rookies who had waited two years took the floor together on the same night.

The night itself

Embiid’s line was not efficient. He made 6 of 16 shots and turned the ball over four times. But the flashes were obvious: a turnaround jumper for his first NBA points, seven of eight from the free-throw line, two blocked shots, and a three-pointer that the 76ers’ account posted during the game.

.@JoelEmbiid splash. 👌🏾 https://t.co/8tFbFLkgzf

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 27, 2016

He finished at 22:25, slightly over his planned limit. All seven of his rebounds came on the defensive end. In the closing seconds, with Philadelphia down 101-97, an offensive foul on Embiid was confirmed on replay with 5.2 seconds left, and the Thunder closed it out.

Westbrook carried Oklahoma City in its first game since Kevin Durant left for Golden State, with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists. That season he averaged a triple-double and won MVP. Victor Oladipo and Sabonis, acquired in the summer trade that sent Serge Ibaka to Orlando, both started their first game in Thunder colors.

Philadelphia had other names still waiting. Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick in June 2016, was inactive with a foot injury that cost him the entire season; his own debut did not come until October 18, 2017. Jahlil Okafor came off the bench and scored 8. Nerlens Noel was also inactive.

Thirty-one games

Embiid’s rookie season lasted 31 games, all starts. In 25.4 minutes a night, he averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.5 blocks. Philadelphia went 13-18 when he played and 15-36 when he did not, finishing 28-54. His last game came on January 27, 2017, when he scored 32 points with four threes against Houston. A left knee injury ended his season after that.

The Rookie of the Year vote showed how much 31 games could do. Malcolm Brogdon of Milwaukee won the award. Šarić finished second and Embiid third, even though Embiid received 23 first-place votes, more than Šarić’s 13. Embiid made the All-Rookie team.

What the debut became

Over the next decade, Embiid became one of the most dominant scorers of his generation. He won scoring titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23, was named MVP in 2022-23 after averaging 33.1 points, and has made seven All-Star teams, five All-NBA teams and three All-Defensive teams. Through 10 seasons, he has averaged 27.6 points and 10.8 rebounds.

Availability has followed him the whole way. Embiid has played 490 regular-season games in those 10 seasons, all of them starts, including 39 in 2023-24, 19 in 2024-25 and 38 last season. The opening-night minutes limit in 2016 turned out to be the first chapter of a story about managing his body that is still being written.

On October 26, 2016, though, it was simple. A 7-footer who had waited two years scored 20 points in 22 minutes, and Philadelphia finally saw what it had been waiting for.