76ers called out by Zach Lowe in ruthless takedown of Joel Embiid narrative

Seems like someone is a 76ers hater…
76ers, Joel Embiid
76ers, Joel Embiid | Mitchell Leff/GettyImages

The Philadelphia 76ers are looking at this season as a big chance for them to mount a year-long comeuppance, but some people do not seem to particularly impressed with their chances of doing exactly that.

Zach Lowe, in a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Post podcast, went for the 76ers’ head in his latest rant session with Kirk Goldsberry, tackling a plethora of arguments against Philly raking in success anytime soon, most especially centered on Joel Embiid.

The longtime analyst broke into laughter talking about a headline which indicated that the 76ers window has closed. Lowe said he couldn’t believe it even existed in the first place since Philly has zero chance with Joel Embiid. Lowe even dusted off the famous AI practice remarks to use against Paul George and Embiid, setting up an unpopular counter to the very reason why fans became a lot more optimistic as of late about the team’s chances this season.

Was Lowe being harsh on this one? Well, time will only tell, but given the current set of data that we have, he was turning in some pretty disingenuous facts, for sure.

Zach Lowe absolutely blasts the 76ers in an epic rant

Doubting this team’s ability to make a huge leap enough to satisfy the so-called comeback (if not revenge) narrative is perhaps understandable. The 76ers, after all, still have the DNA of a ball club which just ended up with the fifth-worst record in the league, and even after just a couple ofpreseason outings, their issues from a year ago have subsisted.

More importantly, however, the main backbone of the 76ers’ grandiose plans for this season hinges on a wildly erratic condition — health and the injury bug. Philadelphia is perhaps the league’s most mercurial team in the health department, and that alone makes their footing a lot shakier in comparison to those teams similarly as talented as they are.

Having said that, making a blanket statement that the 76ers never had a title window with Embiid at the helm is plainly arbitrary, if not outright farcical. This team has contended for quite a while now, and more often than not, the problem rested with things beyond the superstar’s control, i.e. his sidekicks turning on the team, injuries at the worst possible times, front office erosion, and the list goes on.

Sure, Embiid is not exactly someone who should get inoculated from blame, but the 76ers do not get to their consistent plane of success (save for last season) without Embiid as their pilot. Be pessimistic about their shot at reclaiming their spot in the winner’s circle, sure. But at the very least, what happened last season should not invalidate his body of work as a whole.