Almost everyone will agree that Joel Embiid is one of the best big men in today’s NBA. The Cameroon-born center’s combination of size, strength, and finesse makes him a nightmare matchup for any team that had to play him and the Philadelphia 76ers.
However, the Sixers haven’t won anything with the big man being the centerpiece of the roster. Through a mixture of injuries and bad luck, Embiid has never gotten the chance to play in the NBA Finals despite his incredible talents.
It’s not like the team isn’t trying to help him, though. Aside from Tyrese Maxey blossoming into a bona fide star, the front office convinced Paul George to move to the City of Brotherly Love and help Embiid make his first trip to the NBA Finals.
While everything seems to be going well for the team, it seems like their star center has gotten some time to think about how his career has gone and shared a surprising insight on what his legacy would look like when he decides to hang them up.
Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid doesn’t believe he has what it takes to be considered among the GOATs
Embiid was asked about his opinion on how his career has gone so far. He got a pointed question on whether he would look at himself as one of the greatest basketball players in history if his health didn’t stop him from achieving everything he could.
Embiid, known to be confident on and off the floor, surprised everyone with his agreement.
Per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Dan Roche:
“I think so. I think I’m that talented,” Embiid said. “Obviously you need to win championships, and to win championships you need other guys. You can’t do it by yourself. I want to win so bad. But if you don’t, you just got to understand that as long as you care about the right stuff, if it doesn’t happen, maybe it wasn’t meant to happen.”
“If you think about it, the thing that stopped me all these years is just freak injuries. Every single playoffs, regular season, people falling on my knee or breaking my face — twice. It’s always freak injuries at the wrong time.”
It’s sad for Philly fans to see the anchor of their squad make such a brutal admission. The fact that he agreed to the point shows how much his various injuries affected his physical and mental fortitude over the years.
However, it’s not like Embiid is not worthy of being in the conversation. Even if he doesn’t win an NBA title for the rest of his career, he already has an impressive enough basketball CV that should make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Moreover, he finished last season with 34.7 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 5.6 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 1.7 BPG. While he only played 39 games due to injury, he would easily have been an MVP frontrunner with those numbers.
Fans hope the Philadelphia 76ers finally have a roster strong enough to help Embiid make a serious run for the title next season. They will probably also pray to every deity to bless him with good health to finally play at least 70 games a season.
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