Joel Embiid joined Tyrese Maxey on ‘Maxey on the Mic’ Podcast, talked The Process, Ben Simmons, and more

Joel Embiid joined Tyrese Maxey on a recent episode of his podcast, “Maxey on the Mic” and dove in head first on a variety of topics, including the origins of “The Process” nickname, playing for Team USA, Nick Nurse, dealing with Ben Simmons and James Harden, trolling fans, the importance of the MVP and fighting with the media.

There are a ton of great clips from the episode making their rounds on social media. I would suggest listening to the full episode here but if you’re trapped at work and still recovering from a miserable Philadelphia Eagles loss, below are some notes from the episode.

Joel Embiid on “The Process”

“…The Process, that I was really pushing wasn’t about basketball. It was about everything that I went through. Everything that I was going through. Think about it, if I miss — say my foot — I’m missing my second year [with a fractured navicular bone], everybody’s talking, all this all these stories are coming out, ‘Joel is 500 lbs,’ ‘he’ll never play a game of basketball in the NBA, ‘his career is over,’ a bunch of stuff and then we had a new GM … and then I lost my brother, so at that point, I’m like ‘you know what, everybody is just talking like ‘Joel can’t do this,’ ‘he can’t do that,’ ‘he’ll never be able to play,’ he’s dealing with all this stuff,’ so I’m like ‘OK, this is what I believe in, this is my process and I’m gonna trust it.”

Embiid on if “The Process” is over…

“I would say it’s over but it’s not completed…. the whole goal of it is to be competitive and win… but I would say it’s probably over.”

Burner Gate & Roster Changes

Like usual, Embiid also touched a few times on Brian Colangelo and “Burner Gate” while also expressing his disappointment in the fact that the roster keeps changing every single year, calling the constant moves and player rotations “insane”. Most notably, Embiid touched on the 2019 roster that featured Jimmy Butler, stating that he was never really happy that version of the Sixers never had a chance to run it back. 

Ben Simmons…🥹

In a somewhat surprising statement about former teammate Ben Simmons, Embiid referred to him as “the one that got away” which brought tears to my eyes because honestly, I couldn’t agree more. 

I’m Crying…

“You can talk about this could have happened, the mistakes that have been made during the draft of Mikal Bridges but that’s just one [of the many franchise mistakes]… but I think that’s the perfect match… I think that’s the one that got away. I just hate the fact that the way things happened….”

Embiid also gave an interesting perspective on Simmons and the never-ending discussion about his unwillingness to shoot jump shots. 

Joel Embiid never believed Ben Simmons needed a jumper

Joel Embiid joined Tyrese Maxey on his Maxey on the Mic Podcast on @iHeartRadio

Embiid had a really interesting perspective on Ben Simmons saying:

“I’ve always been one of those people that didn’t believe that (Ben) didn’t actually need a jumper. Like he was so good, he’s just… pic.twitter.com/LNDr8SXIBW

— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) December 11, 2023

“I’ve always been one of those people that didn’t believe that (Ben) didn’t actually need a jumper. Like he was so good, he’s just a monster like just physically. Like someone is fricking 6-11 just running up and down the floor faster than whatever… so like I never believed that he actually needed a jumper. I just believed that if he could find a way to get his free throws to 75-80% that would have changed everything. Because if you think about it, if he believed that he could make shots what would he do? He would keep attacking, attacking, attacking, and never stopping. And then what would the defense have to do? He was already such a great playmaker.”

Everyone knows that Joel Embiid is a fantastic free throw shooter. Other NBA fanbases might even call him a Foul Merchant but at the end of the day, you can’t argue with the results and his approach to putting points on the board. It obviously works and Embiid acknowledging that just shows how much he has grown as a basketball player and his understanding of the game.

Embiid stated that he never really believed that Ben Simmons needed a jumper to be successful in the NBA. All Simmons needed to do was knock down foul shots and every other aspect of his game would have fallen into place. Really, Embiid is talking about a confidence issue with Simmons, which as we all know was a major part of his “downfall” here in Philadelphia.

More specifically, once Simmons lost trust from the free throw line, he was destroyed mentally and it impacted his ability to attack the basket and push the ball down the floor because he was scared to get fouled. Obviously, the most blatant example of this happened at the worst time possible – Game 7 at home against the Atlanta Hawks.

That’s why it never really made sense for Simmons to just quit on the Philadelphia 76ers and request a ticket out of town. Personally, I’m still holding out for a reunion. Bring Ben home and let’s get back to work.

Maxey on the Mic: Joel Embiid Episode