【The Swingin’ Stewardesses】

Joel Embiid,The Swingin’ Stewardesses the agile giant whose hands make a regulation basketball look like a child's toy, finally played in a real NBA basketball game Tuesday night.

Well, kindof. It was a pre-season game that didn't really count; the Philadelphia 76ers play their first actualgame on Oct. 26. But after a three-year wait, even 13 scant minutes of Embiid -- Indeed! Embiid! -- on an actual NBA court were enough to tantalize.

First, you have to understand Embiid's history to understand why those 13 minutes -- and what he did during them -- were such a big deal. He's been a star-crossed star.

Embiid is originally from Cameroon. He starred during his first and only season at the University of Kansas, until that season was cut short at the end by a back injury. But still -- seven-footers with Embiid's combination of grace, power, and skill are rare gems. The Sixers picked him third overall in the 2014 NBA Draft.

But a broken bone in his right foot -- a broken bone in his right foot, remember that for later -- sidelined Embiid for his entire rookie season. Then he needed another surgery to fix the problem, and missed his second season as well.

The upshot: Two years after being plucked third overall, Embiid had yet to show up in an NBA box score.

Until this Tuesday night, that is, when he started at center against the Boston Celtics. Embiid played just 13 minutes. (They're bringing him back slowly, you see; he's a longterm investment.) His stat line won't blow anyone away: 2-of-6 from the field, made both his free throws, grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots.

But the Vines, man! Just look at the Vines! This is why Sixers fans -- and basketball fans in general -- have been waiting with bated breathe for the past 20-odd months.

Here's Embiid receiving a pass on the wing, backing his defender into the post off the dribble, spinning, then hitting a fadeaway jump-shot. Ooooweeeee.

CARD ID: 98205

Then, while he was nursing those injuries for the past two years, the 250-pounder apparently learned to shoot three-pointers? What?

Ok, fine -- his toe was on the line. But damn. Damn! That's some deep range for a big ol' dude who can also dunk on people's heads.

Which brings us to this next clip. Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown -- the high-flyer from Cal who was the third overall pick in the most recent NBA Draft -- decided at one point to drive the lane and elevate for an epic dunk.

Well, it wouldhave been an epic dunk but Embiid had other ideas.

"Three Vines do not a Hall of Fame career make," as the late John Wooden, a famed UCLA coach, once said. Nonetheless, it's undeniably awesome to finally, finallysee Embiid on an NBA court -- and looking damn good on that court.

Here's hoping he can stay healthy and fulfill his vast potential.

But meanwhile ...

The Sixers picked Australian phenom Ben Simmons with the first overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft. Simmons is hailed by many as a transcendent talent, a point guard in a power forward's body.

He and Embiid -- the Australian and the Cameroonian -- made the Sixers a fun and enticing team to track longterm. The fact that Embiid would finally be healthy enough to play for the first time in Simmons' first NBA season even lent it all a certain tinge of cosmic synergy.

But, well, there's no easy way of saying this -- Simmons broke a bone in hisright foot last week. It's not the same exact injury Embiid suffered, but already there is speculation Simmons could miss his entire rookie season. Sounds a bit familiar, no?