DeMarcus Cousins joined Rachel Nichols and offered his opinion on how to keep Joel Embiid healthy
DeMarcus Cousins joined “Headliners with Rachel Nichols” and offered his personal opinion on how to keep Joel Embiid healthy.
Cousins stated that he doesn’t believe Embiid is overweight but thinks he needs to drop significant pounds in order to stay on the court and that playing at ‘300 pounds’ creates too many challenges for the lower body.
DeMarcus Cousins thinks Joel Embiid needs to lose weight to stay healthy
“When it comes to Joel in general, we’ve seen this story happen over and over and over again. For me, at what point do you start taking the pressure off of those knees and joints and ankles? Age is starting to get on your side, so there has to be some type of adjustment.”
“I feel like, at some point, the big fella has to come down in weight. … It’s hard to play with 300-plus pounds every night. That wear and tear, eventually, is going to get the best if you. If he can’t get his health under control at some point, it’s always going to be the same story that we’ve been talking about where he’s injured in the playoffs.”
Listen, Boogie definitely isn’t wrong. Joel Embiid is 280 pounds and is definitely one of the heaviest dudes in the NBA and as Cousins mentioned, it’s not even like he’s fat.
He’s just…big, ya know? Plus, pretty much all of Embiid’s injuries (outside of his knee) have been freak accidents. Embiid was forced to wear a mask TWICE in the playoffs. Once because Markelle Fultz broke his face and the other because Pascal Siakam did the same.
Overall, the unfortunate truth is that being 7-feet tall and playing professional basketball takes a toll on the body and Embiid specifically isn’t dealing with a weight issue but rather a style of play issue.
I’m not really sure there’s anything else Embiid can do to keep his body healthy and it’s a damn shame because he’s a generational talent.
My suggestion would be to get Joel Embiid playing basketball like a “true center” and strip him away from his “euro-ball” roots so he is specifically doing the most (if not all) of his work under the basket.
That means, no more bouncing the ball off the backboard, handling the ball on fast breaks while euro-stepping his way through the lane while defenders clog up floor space preventing any type of clean landing.
Basically, you have to stunt Joel Embiid’s god-given talent so he can remain healthy and play basketball. Does anyone want that? Absolutely not. I would bet the house that Embiid refuses to even have that conversation.
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