BOSTON -- When word emerged that Joel Embiid had been voted an Eastern Conference All-Star starter before Thursday's game in Boston, Philadelphia 76ers coaches and teammates flocked to his locker stall to celebrate the moment.
That parade of well-wishers included Sixers coach Brett Brown, who came over from the coaches' room to offer a congratulatory handshake then gushed about what Embiid's nod means to the Sixers franchise as a whole.
"Like somebody just gave one of your children a star and put it on his paper. It's true," said Brown. "[Embiid] and I have been doing this for a long time and I have been with him the longest out of any of the players in the locker room.