Joel Embiid has been very straight forward and public about his health and the condition of his body.

He opened up to the media after their blowout loss to the Boston Celtics, and revealed he will never be back to his normal self until this knee injury gets corrected.

“The way I was playing a year ago is not the way I’m playing right now,” Embiid said after the loss to Boston. “It sucks. … I probably need to fix the problem, and then I’ll be back at that level. But it’s hard to have trust when you’re not yourself.”

Embiid said the time off before and during the All-Star break helped “a little bit”, but that he’s “still managing it” with his knee. The former MVP said that he plans to keep playing, because he thinks he can still have a positive impact for the Sixers.

“I’m not as dominant as I was a couple of months ago, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t have a lot of impact on the game,” Embiid said. “Just me being out there, I think, helps a lot. My presence, my ability to attract double-teams, get guys more shots.

“It’s just tough because you know you can do so much more. But there’s no excuses. It’s just the way it is. You just have to find ways to figure it out and get better.”

The 30-year-old has managed to only play 18 games this season. He played just 39 games last season, as the most games he’s ever played in a season was 68 (2021-22).