Expectations are high for the Philadelphia 76ers as they head into the 2019-2020 season. The team has re-signed Tobias Harris to keep the core together, brought in Miami Heat's Josh Richardson, and got Al Horford from rivals Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid recently participated in a hilarious challenge called the "one-chip challenge."
The challenge requires someone to eat one really hot chip and stay away from any type of beverage as much as possible. Embiid did it, eating one super hot chip from the brand Paqui.
Embiid tried to play it off as if the hotness didn't bother him at all, but he finally caved in, downing in a few glasses of milk to douse the spiciness. Between gulps of milk, the player revealed something about his weight:
"You know, this summer, I lost about 25 pounds. I'm about to put it back on with the milk," Embiid mentioned casually.
His new trimmed figure can help him dominate a bit more this season and will the Sixers take the next step in the east. In 2018-19, Embiid averaged 27.5 points and 13.6 rebounds with some extra 25 pounds.
Simmons and Embiid managed to break into Sports Illustrated's Top 100 NBA players list for this upcoming season. Simmons was ranked 23rd, while Embiid came in at top 7.
Embiid rose to the charts - his previous rank from last year had him at no. 7. While some wouldn't take the ranking seriously, it's still proof that the player can be dominant if he wants to.
Embiid was an MVP candidate for about the first half of last season. He has been 28 games where he scored at least 30 points and 10 rebounds. He earned four 3RD place MVP votes, and the others were for 5TH place. Last season, he averaged a career-high 27.5 points per game and grabbed a career-high 13.6 rebounds a game.
Meanwhile, Simmons had an improvement in his SI ranking as well. He was at the 26th spot last year and earned a first-time All-Star last season.
With Embiid's slimmer frame, it made him more available for the Philadelphia team. He had some health issues playing against the Toronto Raptors in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference, but he played 63 games in total in 2017-18 and 64 in 2018-19.
Embiid is now in a better shape, which we think will go a long way in helping the Sixers move forward.
