It wasn’t all Joel Embiid’s fault.
It was more Kendrick Perkins’ fault, but Embiid does deserve some of the blame because he definitely whined a bit about not winning the MVP award, so when he did win, it put him in a situation where he had to win a championship, or it would invalidate it.
Not only did he not win a championship, but he didn’t play that great even though he was hurt, and the player the media turned on to make sure he won the MVP, Nikola Jokic, went on to have one of the greatest postseasons runs in NBA history that ended in a championship and Finals MVP.
The pressure is on Embiid to deliver while he is still in his prime, and when asked about that, here is what he had to say.
Was not expecting Joel Embiid to say “or anywhere else” when talking about championships… He’s close to his breaking point here in Philly. pic.twitter.com/0MqXX1rnrT
— AJ Torres (@ajtorres1230) July 17, 2023
As you can imagine, Sixers fans wanted to know exactly what Embiid meant by the statement.
He claims that he was trolling, but it didn’t sound that way to me.
Is Embiid close to pulling a Dame Lillard only time will tell.
Buddy Check my middle name https://t.co/m9CtdaK4Kg
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 17, 2023