NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal had some bitter pills for the Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid ahead of their season opener against the Boston Celtics. “He’s just been unconsidered for the NBA’s top big man,” O’Neal had said on his podcast, “The Big Podcast With Shaq”. “He’s off the list now. You can tell him I said that.”
Going one step further, Shaq added, “Remember two or three years ago, it was him and Joker [Nikola Jokic]. They were neck and neck. Joker has him by far now; it’s disappointing.” Indeed, the two big men have been giving each other run for money in the past few seasons. Jokic won the NBA MVP in 2021 and 2022. On both occasions, Embiid was second in the MVP voting.
In 2023, Jokic became the NBA champion. That year, Embiid secured his first MVP honor, and it was Jokic’s turn to stop at No. 2. However, their careers have taken different turns since then. While Jokic kept improving, Embiid only went down. Back-to-back injuries have riddled his career.
When he finally stepped into the court against the Celtics on Oct. 22, his performance only validated Shaq’s comments, and fans did not hesitate to let that know.
Fans React to Joel Embiid, Who Looked Like a Shadow of Himself
Embiid was held to only four points (1-of-9 from the field), six rebounds, two assists, and one block in 20 minutes during Wednesday’s 117-116 win over Boston. He looked nowhere near his old self as he opened the game with four straight misses and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
Notably, Embiid raised expectations during Friday’s preseason finale when he pulled off a near triple-double in a little over 18 minutes (14 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and blocked three shots). However, that was against a Minnesota squad full of G-League players. In the real test against the Celtics, he failed miserably.
It was tough to believe that the same player had averaged 33.1 points just three seasons earlier to claim the league MVP. One fan thought that was the end for Embiid, writing, “Embiid had a great career, man.”
One more worrying trend from Embiid was that he didn’t move significantly laterally on defense, jump often to contest shots, or go for rebounds. It was impossible to ignore the fans’ eyes, as one of them wrote, “Joel Embiid not jumping AT ALL anymore. His knees are cooked,” with a clip of Embiid’s standstill action.
“Joel Embiid’s knees are literally dust. It’s never been more over 😩,” another wrote. Indeed, his knee has floored him for the last few seasons. In February 2024, Embiid hurt his left knee in a game against the Warriors. An MRI revealed an injury to the lateral meniscus, and he had to undergo surgery. The setback robbed him of the chance to compete for back-to-back MVP honors.
Then came the haunted 2024-25 season, where Embiid was limited to just 19 games because of multiple injuries. In April this year, he again had to go under the knife when an arthroscopic surgery was performed on that same left knee.
With his lack of movement, the 7-foot-2, 280-pounder stalled the offense. He has to either roll or shoot 3s. In fact, the Sixers looked better without Embiid in the fourth quarter. He sat out the final nine minutes, 17 seconds due to a minute restriction. Looking at that, fans commented with memes that trolled the two-time NBA scoring champion.
Embiid and 76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse Find Positives on a Disastrous Night
However, Embiid and head coach Nick Nurse are putting up bright faces. “I’m super happy that he was out there,” Nurse said. “I think that he played good. I know that’s going to sound silly, 1-for-9. He just didn’t shoot it very good.
“I thought he transferred the ball good. I thought he made some good decisions. I thought he took good shots. I thought he protected the rim. So, again, he hasn’t done much. He’s kind of played in a scrimmage and a preseason game. I think there’s some rust there, but I thought he moving good and made good decisions.”
“I’m good,” Embiid said. “You know, it’s going to take a while, you know, obviously, being on a minute restriction, playing shorter stints, it’s harder to kind of get into a rhythm. But I got to figure it out. That’s the way they got it set up. It’s annoying, but if I want to play, I don’t really have a choice. But I want to be out there as much as possible.”
As Shaq said on his podcast, “I hope he hears us, and I hope he gets mad. I hope he dominates, but that hasn’t been the case. When I come at the guys, they want to take it personally. But I am just trying to motivate them.” Whether Embiid finds his motivation to dominate again will undoubtedly be one of this season’s biggest storylines.
