Philadelphia 76ers: It’s unfair to question Joel Embiid’s desire to win

With the Philadelphia 76ers in a 3-2 hole, fans are blaming Joel Embiid’s health.

After getting scorched in Game 5, the Philadelphia 76ers are on the brink of elimination. Game 6 will prove pivotal, as the Sixers can either force Game 7 with positive momentum or stay home for the summer.

There’s a lot riding on the game, for obvious reasons. Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris have upcoming free agency decisions. Brett Brown remains on the tentative hot seat to some, although the merits behind such a stance are questionable. The Sixers need put on a good show.

Philadelphia held serious momentum after winning Game 3 by 21 points. It was Joel Embiid‘s best performance of the postseason, scoring 33 and guiding the Sixers to victory. It has been Embiid’s only good game all series.

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Now that the Sixers have lost two straight — Game 5 being a 36-point visit to the slaughterhouse — people are pointing to Embiid as the issue. A consensus top-10 player showing up just once will naturally garner criticism, much of which is well-deserved.

Embiid has been objectively bad for most of the series, especially relative to his standards. He attempted just seven shots in both Games 2 and 4, lacking the aggression that makes him a dominant force inside. In Games 1 and 5, Marc Gasol‘s stout defense got the best of him.

With that said, you can’t tag Embiid with the ‘choker’ label and move on. Nor can you point to his health issues as a more wide-reaching issue, questioning his work ethic and desire to win. There are no grounds for such an argument.

Embiid was legitimately sick in Game 2, dealing with stomach issues that necessitated a pre-game IV and extended rest. He was sick again in Games 4 and 5, missing sleep and dealing with flu-like symptoms. He looked visibly tired and lethargic in each of those contests.

There isn’t much Embiid can control when it comes to sickness. You can argue he needs to be in better shape, but that’s not the issue at hand. Embiid got sick — a stomach bug and an upper respiratory infection. Those aren’t “eating habit” or “desire to win” problems.

The media tends to treat athletes as beyond human. Pundits have denounced Embiid’s effort level. They’ve questioned if he wants it. Jay Williams went as far as to criticize Embiid for texting Brett Brown the morning prior to Game 4 and displaying hesitance about his physical condition.

The flu and stomach bugs are not light experiences. Most are bedridden and out of work when those hit. Embiid has promised to get back to his Game 3 mentality, to get back to having fun. But it’s negligent to categorize his sickness as a mild roadblock that, with the right desire to win, is easily overcome.

It’s also worth noting that Embiid hasn’t been the Sixers’ foremost issue this series. He still showed up for several important defensive possessions in Game 2 and made the game-sealing basket. He was a team-high +17 in Game 4.

Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris have also struggled to a significant degree. There hasn’t been a consistent source of production outside Jimmy Butler, so pinpointing all struggles on Embiid — especially in a series the the Sixers have outperformed some pundits’ expectations in — doesn’t quite add up.

The Sixers need a better version of Embiid to win Games 6 and 7. The series won’t swing toward Philadelphia without a more emphatic Embiid presence underneath. Even so, there’s a degree of humanity that’s necessary when critiquing the big man’s performance. He’s been sick. Not because he drinks Shirley Temples or eats Chick-fil-A. He’s just been sick.