NEW ORLEANS -- Joel Embiid told ESPN Radio on Thursday that winning the NBA Rookie of the Year Award would represent a huge step in lifting him out of the "bad place" he had reached while missing his first two seasons with the 76ers due to injury.
Speaking to ESPN Radio's Meet The All-Stars Show that will air Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET, Embiid told hosts Marc Kestecher and Marc Stein: "The time that I missed, [those] two years that I missed, I went to such ... I was in a bad place. Coming back and having a chance to be the Rookie of the Year, I think it's going to pay for all the sacrifices that I made.