“Astonishment, the state of the soul in which all of its motions are suspended with a degree of horror, is the passion caused by the great and sublime in nature when those causes operate most powerfully.” —A Philosophical Investigation into the Sources of Our Concepts of the Sublime and Beauties, by Edmund Burke (1757)
Joel Embiid said to reporters at the podium, “For the most part, I was healthy,” following the Philadelphia 76ers’ Series-ending Game 6 loss to the New York Knicks, 118-115. In the middle of his statement, Embiid grinned and then laughed angrily, his eyes almost rolling over. A component of the positive affirmations he had been repeating to himself during the intensely competitive first round series was maybe “I am healthy.” It might have been effective in a manner because this playoffs run of six games was the finest of his career. But the laugh was a kind of surrender, with his Sixers falling well short of expectations yet again and leaving early. As if he was free from the need to deceive himself.
But on Thursday, in the manner that Embiid so frequently does, there were moments—and there always are—that defied reason and sensibility. There are moments so astounding that you could think that perhaps being well is just a mental state that might take precedence over the physical symptoms of a disease. And all you can do in such moments of sheer athletic genius is hold your breath. (Sixers supporters have been suffocating for almost ten years.) The Sixers were playing really well early in the second quarter, and I couldn’t help but cry out, “Oh, God.”
Watching Embiid, who is perhaps more affected by the past than any other NBA player, makes me do my hardest to mentally step back. In addition to his own physical recuperation, he has endured innumerable fits and starts as a member of a team that has witnessed some of the most peculiar personnel turnovers in league history. In addition to being one of the most gifted players in history, he is one of the most physically intimidating. And he hasn’t advanced past the postseason’s second round. Time is running out.
