Joel Embiid took the floor for the Philadelphia 76ers for the first time this season on Tuesday night. Embiid, who has spent the start of the year ramping up to play after some knee problems, looked like someone who needs to work off a ton of rust, as he went for 13 points on 2-for-11 shooting with five assists and three rebounds in a 111-99 loss to the New York Knicks.
It’s probably safe to assume that Embiid will be fine as long as he can manage whatever is up with his knee, while the Sixers — which find themselves 2-8 at this early juncture — have to get him, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey all healthy and clicking as soon as possible. But even if that happens, Shaquille O’Neal is not optimistic about Philly’s ability to win a ring with Embiid at the center of things, which he expressed at halftime on TNT.
“In New York, it’s a tough team to play,” O’Neal said. “But this was the fear I had for Joel Embiid. You announce arrogantly, I’m not playing back-to-backs, Ernie. I’m not injured but I’m sore. I’ll come back when I want to come back. Now, when you say things like that, you’re supposed to come back with extra energy. 0-for-3? I would have been 0-15. But you know what y’all would have said. ‘Hey, Shaq’s not playing well, but he’s playing aggressive.’ The plan that they are having, it’s not working. And not only that, I say this respectfully, Joel Embiid will never win a championship until he gets his mind and his attitude right.”
Shaq has essentially staked out a place in the basketball punditry world as the guy who will call out big men when he feels they aren’t living up to what they’re capable of, and clearly, he thinks Embiid is the kind of guy who can lead Philadelphia to a championship. In fairness to Embiid, while he did say he may not play in back-to-backs going forward in an effort to be healthy when the playoffs roll around, he said after the loss to the Knicks that he wants to play in Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, even if the decision is out of his hands.