Embiid isn’t Hurts…He never kept “The Main Thing The Main Thing”

Being the “Face of the Franchise” is never an easy job. Whatever sport, whatever team, whatever city you are in the scrutiny can be staggering. Some handle it well, but most struggle at times with it. The rewards can be huge, the money and fame are intoxicating, but with those gifts come responsibility. It’s professional sports and that clearly identifies it as a job.

It’s not a hobby, it comes with expectations of performance. The very least any employee owes their employer is professionalism. Unfortunately, that concept appears to have been lost on Joel Embiid.

It’s not like this latest drama surrounding Joel Embiid was hard to see coming. I had long ago jumped off of this bandwagon. I don’t know when I exactly said “I’m out” but I certainly believe that I had very good reasons. These are the things that formed my opinion;

When most athletes get an opportunity to chase their dream in professional sports, you don’t have to worry about them being in shape. Joel Embiid struggled with this from the beginning of his career and his supporters wanted him to be applauded when in his late 20’s he finally got into shape.

I had a different opinion. It was selfish behavior to disrespect the team by not working on conditioning and proper eating. What role did that extra weight play in his numerous injuries and wear and tear on the knees? I’d suspect that it was at least a factor. Him not being in cardio physical condition was evident. It’s still evident today every time he gets injured.

With Joel Embiid there was always somebody else to blame. Though I agree with him that many surrounding his Philadelphia 76ers career failed him, it was rare that Embiid ever said a simple “my bad”. Whether it was Brett Brown, Ben Simmons, or Doc Rivers he always needed something more.

Remember the off-season of 2023? “I want to win a championship, whether it is here or somewhere else”. He was under a long-term contract with the 76ers, why would he insinuate that he had his eye on the door?

Whenever someone takes issue with anything he says or tweets, instead of owning it he enjoyed saying that he was a troll. Thats acceptable I guess if you are a teenager. If you are a professional athlete, I believe that you should be held to a different standard. His defenders found it charming but I’m so surprised that they ever believed it.

After limping through the Knicks series in 2024 where he had a few fantastic efforts, Joel Embiid had a decision to make. Would he take the summer to rest and rehabilitate to get ready for the upcoming season?

After he recruited Paul George to come join him I expected him to make a smart choice. That did not happen. He chose to join Team USA and whatever happened with his knee it never got better. After the Olympics instead of returning to rehab the injury he vacationed. When he showed up to camp he wasn’t able to do almost anything. He was reportedly “ramping up” to the season.

It’s clear that the program should have started months before October.

I defended Embiid vehemently for being angry with his brother's death and son being used in a sports column by Marcus Hayes. I did not embrace his telling us that he has done so much for this city. Star athletes and faces of the franchise rarely accomplish less. I can’t think of any in the history of this city. Did he play hurt at times? He absolutely did. I applauded him for that. For his self-awareness, I give him an F.

Now that the Tyrese Maxey scolding has been made public what will be his next move? Will Joel Embiid accept the critique and attempt to face his job responsibilities with professionalism? I have serious doubts. I can’t get past the nagging thought that somehow Joel Embiid will find a way to portray himself as the victim once again.

The Philadelphia Sixers have had some legends come through town. You can go back to Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Grier. You have guys like Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and eventually Charles Barkley. Then there was Allen Iverson. And now Joel Embiid can be considered a legendary player himself. Even if his story is still being written.

But this article is not about those guys. Today we are going to talk about the guys whose Sixers careers were far less memorable. Even though they may be well-known names elsewhere in the NBA. The guys on this list merely had a cup of coffee with the Sixers.

Some of them are Hall of Famers. Others are infamous busts who had a pit stop in Philadelphia. Some guys started their careers here but went on to accomplish greater things elsewhere. Others had their cup of coffee here after they were well past their prime. None of them, are known for what they did with the Sixers though. At least not in a good way.

We picked 10 guys whose names most NBA fans would recognize, who made a pit stop at some point in Philly. Who made the list? Find out below.

We did the same experiment with the other 3 teams too. So below you can see players who had a cup of coffee with the Phillies, Flyers, and Eagles.

McAdoo is a legendary player. He made the Hall of Fame, won MVP, and is a two-time champion. Do you remember when he finished out his career with the Sixers?

McAdoo signed with the Sixers in January of 1986. He was not the same guy he once was, but he did average a little over 10 points between the regular season and the playoffs. It was his last stop in the NBA as a player. After that, he went overseas to play in Italy for a few seasons.

Vucevic has had a nice career between the Magic and Bulls. But he started out as a rookie that Doug Collins refused to give too many minutes to. The next offseason after being drafted, he was part of the now infamous deal for Andrew Bynum. He went on to make two All-Star games. Bynum never played a minute for the Sixers.

One of the most famous NBA busts had a cup of coffee with the Sixers. The Warriors sent him to the Bucks as part of the Andrew Bogut trade. The Bucks cut him soon after though. He signed a 2-year deal with the Sixers, but played in only 22 games and was cut before the second season of his contract. He nearly had as many personal fouls (37) as he did points (41) while with the Sixers. It was the last chance in the NBA he ever got.

The Sixers tried so hard to find the second scoring option behind Allen Iverson. One of the guys they tried, was Glenn Robinson. He was very good with the Bucks, usually averaging over 20 points per game. He was not bad with the Sixers, but he was not that same guy. He played just 42 games here and averaged 16 points per game. He was injured for his entire 2nd season here and then got traded.

McGee is perhaps best known for his frequent appearances on Shaqtin a Fool. Its gave him a bit of an unfair repuation. Did he make some bone headed plays in his career? Yes. But he was also a 3-time champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and a physical presence on defense.

His time with the Sixers was know memorable at all though. The Nuggets shipped him here, along with a first round pick, and the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum, as a pure salary dump. He played just 6 games here.

Kucoc won 3 NBA Finals with the Bulls, was 6th Man of The Year in the 1995-1995 season, and won pretty much every award you can as a Basketball player when over in Europe. He was a significant piece of the Bulls second run of 3 straight championships. But he did not get much time with the Sixers.

He was decent in the 1999 -2000 season, averaging 12 points per game. But the next season he was part of the trade that landed the Sixers Dikembe Motumbo. In the end, he played in only 80 total games here, averaging a little over 8 points per game.

Cauley-Stein never quite lived up to being the 6th overall pick out of Kentucky. He was by no means a bad player. He had some decent seasons as a physical defender. But he was never a star. His time in Philly was truly forgettable here. The Sixers signed him to a 10-day contract in the 2021-2022 season. But he only appeared in 2 games and scored 0 points. That was the last time he ever stepped onto an NBA court.

Brewer was only here for the span of two 10-day contracts. It was in the Jimmy Butler season, and they needed someone to fill in for Jimmy when he missed time. And Brewer brought them a ton of energy and hustle off the bench. My main memory is of his defense on James Harden. But they never signed him after the 2nd 10-Day contract expired, bringing is time in Philly to a quick end.

Obviously we don’t forget he played here. It is too recent. But he will be one of those guys where we look back one day and go “Oh yea, he did play here.”. Howard was probably one of the best backups for Embiid. He only lasted one year here. And like so many backup bigs before him, he disappeared in the playoff.

Not sure if anyone forgets his time here, so maybe it doesn't quite fit the brief. But Webber is a superstar, who had a disappointing cup of coffee in Philly. Webber was supposed to come here and finally be the guy to be AI’s Co-Star. It never quite worked out. He was injured for parts of his first season, had a decent first full season here, but then was benched in year 3.