Drew Hanlen Joel Embiid

WATCH: Drew Hanlen talks Joel Embiid, reveals workout that unleashed scoring surge

Joel Embiid’s midseason scoring surge did not just magically appear out of thin air. According to longtime trainer Drew Hanlen, it started with one old-school grind session in mid-December that probably was not even supposed to happen.

Drew Hanlen went on The Kevin O’Connor Show and pulled back the curtain on what was really going on. After the 2024 Olympics, Embiid could not even do on-court workouts for months.

He was strictly focused on getting his health right. No live reps. No rhythm. No normal buildup. By the time he returned this season, something felt off. His mid-range jumper, normally automatic, was clanking. His three-ball looked flat. For a guy who built his MVP case on being the most unguardable scoring big in the league, that is not a small issue.

Drew Hanlen on Joel Embiid

At one point, Embiid told Drew Hanlen, “Hey, I know I’m not really supposed to, but we’ve got to figure out my jump shot. My mid-range is off, which is never off. My three is off, which is never off.” So they did what they have always done. They went back to the lab. Hanlen said they “grinded like old school Joel.” It was not cautious. It was not pretty. It was not probably recommended by the medical staff. But it was necessary.

Embiid walked out of that workout and told Hanlen, “I feel like myself again.” The next game he dropped 39. Since that session, he has averaged 29.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists over a 20-game stretch. That is not a coincidence. That is a superstar recalibrating.

Drew Hanlen also took aim at the lazy narrative that follows Embiid around like a shadow. “You don’t go from picking up a basketball at 16 to being arguably the most skilled big guy of all time in a decade if you don’t work hard,” he said. That part matters. Embiid did not grow up in AAU gyms. He discovered basketball at 16 in Cameroon and turned himself into a 2023 MVP in less than a decade. That does not happen by accident.

This season, the load management has been different too. Drew Hanlen made it clear that when Embiid sits, it is not because he is fragile or disengaged. It is because he refuses to push his body to places he has in the past. “People will look at him and be like, ‘he’s out of shape, he’s lazy.’ No, he’s just not 100 percent,” Hanlen said. “People have no idea the amount of pain that he’s played through.”

Right now, Embiid is sidelined again with knee soreness and shin issues, which only fuels the noise. But if the December reset proved anything, it is that when he feels right, he is still one of the most dominant scorers on the planet.

Joel Embiid will miss Thursday night’s game against the Hawks with right shin soreness

Joel Embiid might be on the short list of the most misunderstood athletes in sports. The injuries are real. The surgeries are real. The frustration is real. But so is the work. And when that work clicks, you get 39 the next night and 30 per game for a month straight.

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