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Joel Embiid, when healthy, is one of the best big men in the NBA. Problem is, he hasn’t been able to stay healthy for a lot of his young career, and, because of that, his Philadelphia 76ers haven’t necessarily been able to live up to expectations — especially this season, when the roster was stacked thanks to two midseason trades that brought Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris to Philly for an “all-in” kind of season.
Unfortunately, with Embiid missing a few games during the second-round matchup against the Toronto Raptors, the Sixers fell behind in the series 3-1, with the team, ultimately, losing in heartbreaking fashion when Kawhi Leonard made a last-second fadeaway over Joel Embiid in Game 7 to closeout the series. The loss was clearly devastating, with the Sixers’ big man seen walking to the locker room crying as he passed TV cameras.
While some people may poke fun at the fact that a grown man was balling his eyes out — which they shouldn’t, because emotions are part of sports — at least one fan of Joel Embiid’s was quick to remind him that everything will be OK. That’s because a 9-year-old girl named Olivia wrote the All-Star center an inspiring letter to help raise his spirits, which is just awesome. Take a look at the note and the little girl reading it to Embiid below.
9 year old Sixers fan wrote a heartwarming letter to @JoelEmbiid
after seeing him cry after loss#Sixers pic.twitter.com/LOCr7M5DX0— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) May 14, 2019
9-year-old Olivia’s letter to @JoelEmbiid after GM7.
"Dear Joel Embiid, you are my favorite player. I am sorry that you lost. I saw you crying on T.V. It's ok to lose sometimes, I lost basketball games too.”
(Via @Christie_Ileto) pic.twitter.com/WPW75LjKIj
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) May 14, 2019
It’s moments like these that remind you how awesome sports are. Sure, the loss doesn’t get any easier to swallow for Joel Embiid or any of his teammates, but the fact that he’s getting a little reminder that it’s OK to fail — just as long as you learn from that experience — is, hopefully, something the big man will remember. He’s got a fan in little Olivia, so here’s to Embiid understanding that this loss is just “part of the process” and it drives him to come back even hungrier next season.
Hopefully the big man recognizes Olivia for this in some way, whether with a simple retweet or post on Instagram, or by acknowledging her and her family with a signed jersey or something.