The relationship between Embiid and the Sixers has been frayed at times over the years, which perhaps explains why they rushed to extend him last offseason.

The Sixers center is working to return to form as he recovers from his second knee surgery in 14 months. He spoke with ESPN about coming back too soon from injury, his friend Jameer Nelson suggesting therapy, his history with James Harden, and more.

That was the biggest takeaway from Dotun Akintoye’s phenomenal Joel Embiid feature that ran on ESPN on Wednesday morning. The enigmatic Philadelphia 76ers superstar provided rare access and vulnerability talking about the ups and downs of his NBA career in the type of longform piece that rarely exists in today’s media landscape.