Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers came into the 2022-23 NBA season considered contenders to win a championship.
Last year obviously didn’t go as planned for all parties involved, but this campaign was supposed to be different. James Harden was in the best shape of his life. He and Embiid had all summer to get on the same page. The roster had, theoretically, been improved.
All the pieces were supposed to be there.
Thus far, however, Philly has struggled to deliver on expectations. Embiid and Harden have both battled injuries of varying severities. They’ve both also continued to look better when playing apart than together. And worst of all, the Sixers are currently 5-6 and sit ninth in the Eastern Conference.
On the bright side, while Embiid’s professional life may not be going according to plan, his personal life seems to be in a great place. This week, his girlfriend Anne de Paula’s photos once again went viral.
She boasts nearly a quarter of a million followers on Instagram and routinely blows up online for posts like this:
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
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While her posts don’t get the sort of engagement that Donovan Mitchell’s girlfriend’s provocative photos often get, the numbers are still quite impressive.
Now Embiid just needs to pick up the slack in order to make this a legitimate power couple.
The Cardinals are terrible, but it’s not all bad news for Kliff Kingsbury. https://t.co/LakDNYt4Ff
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 10, 2022
Fortunately, the NBA season is a long one and there is still time for everyone to get their acts together. Philly is very talented on paper. And whether they end up firing Doc Rivers or not, this particular composition of players should be enough to at least compete for a title.
Will the 76ers ever be able to regain some semblance of the respectability they had a couple of years ago before a lucky Kawhi Leonard bounce derailed their championship aspirations?
Time will tell.
Related: Evander Kane’s Ex-Wife Anna Causes A Stir With Provocative Post (Photos)
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
