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We Need To Appreciate Joel Embiid More

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image By Dylan MacKinnon
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 18: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors during Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round at Wells Fargo Center on April 18, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Joel Embiid is the best player the Sixers have had in a long time. Certainly, since Allen Iverson was here, and you could argue he tops even AI. He was the runner-up MVP two seasons in a row. And would have won at least one of them if NBA writers didn’t randomly decide to punish players for missing time for things out of their control. Embiid led the league in points per game last year. With how he is playing, he will be up there again. And he is often in the discussion for All-NBA Defense at the center position. Not to mention the fact his big personality fits Philadelphia perfectly. But even with that said, do we underappreciate him?

Every week as a call screen I take calls from people complaining about Joel Embiid. They will say he is soft. Or he needs to get in the post more. One guy even bafflingly said that he disappears in the playoffs. Working in this industry, I don’t think there has ever been a bigger gap between how great a player is and how many haters he has in the city. To this day we will still occasionally get people wanting to trade him for some reason.

Now I should say. The vast majority of fans adore Embiid the way we should. This is a very vocal minority. So if you are one of those normal, well-adjusted fans, this article is not addressed to you. But I think we can all stand to appreciate his greatness more. Because players like Joel Embiid don’t come around that often. He is one of the greatest players we have ever seen in this city period.

Let’s take a look at the crazy stuff his haters in town say, and just how dumb those critiques are…

  • "He Needs To Be In The Post More"

    This might be the dumbest point they try to make. There are people who just want him to be Shaq. But he is not Shaq. And that is not because he isn’t good enough. In fact, it is because he is capable of doing so much more than Shaq could on a basketball court. Shaq couldn’t hit his free throws the way Embiid could. He didn’t have the automatic shot from mid-range the way Embiid does. And Shaq certainly couldn’t shoot from 3 the way Embiid does. Asking Embiid to live in the paint, is asking him to lessen his game. Embiid shot 39% from 3 last year. You don’t tell someone who shoots that well from 3 to stop shooting 3s. He is among the best mid-range shooters in the league. And he draws fouls from that distance too.

    Not to mention that is always either the leader or runner-up in post-ups per game in the NBA. Last season he posted up 9.8 times per game. Only Jokic was in the post more, at 10 times per game. Not a single other player did it more than 7 times per game. What we have is a failure by some people to understand the game has changed. It is not a back to the basket game anymore. Even in post-ups, Embiid will often face the basket. Because that is how the game is played now.

    He is not going to post up more. And nor should he. He is too good at everything else to waste his potential sitting in the post all game long. He lead the league in scoring last year. He is doing more than enough on that end of the court. In fact, very few NBA players can claim they do more than Embiid does.

  • "Embiid is Soft"

    Joel Embiid has played through so many injuries for this city and team. Last year he had a fractured orbital bone and a torn ligament. And once he was cleared to play, he got out there and played his full minutes. Embiid gets beat up. Maybe because he lives in the post more than almost any other player. Yet he always tries to battle through them.

    And some of you have the audacity to call him soft. Injury prone I could maybe understand. It is tough to blame him for getting hurt because someone blatantly elbowed him in the face. But he does get injured a lot so there is a case to be made there, even if I wouldn’t say that. But calling him soft is crazy. It’s not surprising. We got calls complaining that Carson Wentz didn’t play through his concussion in the playoff game vs the Seahawks. And we got calls from people saying Embiid should have played with a concussion. But just because its not surprising, doesn’t;t make it any less stupid.

    People will sit on their couch eating popcorn, and call Embiid soft while he takes shots to the face and plays with a torn thumb. The people calling him soft would be in tears trying to play basketball with any of the injuries he has played with. You cant play through the stuff he does and be soft. And to call him soft is disrespectful to a man who plays as hard as he does for this city. There is no place for it.

  • "Embiid Doesn't Play Well Enough In The Playoffs"

    I am sorry, did y’all miss last year’s Raptors series? Did you forget about that shot he hit? Earlier in his career were there some bad series? Sure. He isn’t the first young player to have growing pains in the playoffs. But since then he was great vs the Wizards and Hawks, despite being hurt. Great last year vs the Raptors, despite the torn ligament in his hand. And in the year when they were swept by the Celtics, he looked great too.

    The “he struggles in the playoffs” stuff is something these people made up in their heads. There is no evidence to support it. What because he wasn’t his dominant self vs the Heat last year? He had one good thumb and one good eye. There isn’t a player in the league who could play through those two injuries and play great. And yet, his impact was still obvious once he was back on the court. He fixed the rebounding issues they were having vs the Heat. The Sixers weren’t being bullied as much. All things considered, he played exceptionally well once he rejoined that series.

    In terms of the reasons the Sixers as a team have struggled in the playoffs, Embiid may not be top 5. Ben Simmons disappeared in playoff series. The Coaches did not always do a good job in the post season. The Bench has disappointed. Specifically when it comes to Joel Embiid’s backups. But Embiid has mostly played well come playoff time.

There are no perfect players. Every player has flaws. Sometimes Joel has bad games, like everyone. And when he does it is fair to say Embiid played badly. What is not fair, is to say he is soft, or that he is not in the post enough, or plays poorly in the playoffs. Because the people who say that stuff, are making it up in their heads.

Embiid is the best basketball player we have seen in a long time. Hell, he may be the best player in any sport we have seen in a long time. His personality should be a perfect match for this city. And there are not many players from any sport who have embraced the fans the way he has.

Embiid gets the boos. He understands why we sometimes do it. He defended and praised us when the National media tried to paint us in a negative light. So why do some of us not seem to embrace him the way he has embraced us? We are lucky to have Joel Embiid on our team and in our city. He brought Basketball back to Philadelphia after a long stretch of horrible ball, and that goes to even before the Process.

So can we all, even those who aren’t flat-out haters, appreciate the big man some more? Because he has more than earned it.

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