Joel Embiid has big ambitions for himself for the 2018-19 season with the Philadelphia 76ers, but he's not afraid to poke fun at himself either for his past mistakes.The Sixers reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season in the NBA playoffs, where they played against the Boston Celtics in a five-game series which ended with their elimination.In Game 5, Embiid had an opportunity with 15 seconds left in the game to tie the score and send the contest into overtime. However, he ended up missing the shot and, as a result, Philly lost the game.The center was in Africa this week for the NBA Africa game and was photographed as part of a community service the league was providing while over in the continent. In the photo, Embiid can be seen transporting some bricks in a wheelbarrow, to which he used as part of his caption for a savage reference back to his Game 5 blunder.

He said in the caption: "Laying out these bricks before the season starts so I don’t miss game-tying shots in the playoffs."

Embiid and the Sixers certainly have a strong enough squad to go beyond their finish last season of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The center averaged 22.9 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game last season, and is building a good chemistry with teammate Ben Simmons. This is only going to help Philly become a better team and one of the top franchises in the East.

MVP Ambition

After having a 52 win season and with a really young core, the Sixers looks like they could take over the East for years to come with the center leading the charge.

Embiid believes he's good enough to finish the 2018-19 season as the league's MVP, as he said in a recent interview: “I want to win the MVP. I feel like at the end of the day it might be an individual award, but when I play better, the team also does.

"I feel like if I’m an MVP candidate or if I win the MVP, that means we are on another level."

He continued: “We won 52 games, which nobody thought would happen, we won 16 games in a row, we thought that we had a chance to go to the Finals. The approach doesn’t change. Still the same. We’re just going to do our thing.”

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