The Philadelphia 76ers seemed destined for great things last season with Joel Embiid playing at a historic level to the point where a repeat Most Valuable Player campaign seemed inevitable. However, in typical Sixers franchise fashion, he went down to a knee injury as the team crumbled little by little en route to another unceremonious first-round exit in the postseason.
Since then, the 76ers have nicely recovered with Embiid healthy once again and the front office having secured both Tyrese Maxey and Paul George for the long-term. Inarguably the offseason’s biggest winners, the team is now widely tabbed as an East powerhouse capable of breaking into the NBA Finals.
Heck, Embiid has been on a historic run in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympics, but this time, for all the wrong reasons.
76ers star Joel Embiid has been on a historic run… for all the wrong reasons
Thanks to the 2023 MVP playing under the US flag in Paris, there’s been more resource material than usual with his bigger exposure this offseason. But keeping with his string of appearances across various outlets, it seems like the 76ers star has been pretty busy pushing all sorts of agenda, most of which have been questionable — and we’re being modest.
First off, he expressly referred to LeBron James, flagbearer of the USA in Paris, as “not being the player he used to be”. Oh, have we mentioned that they are playing on the same team? Probably not the best thing to say to the leader of the pack ahead of a tournament expected to be much tougher than ever before.
Shortly before that, he went on to anoint himself as someone worthy of being in the GOAT conversation if not for the injuries. 76ers fans obviously hold him dearly, but no one in the fanbase would be comfortable putting him in that discussion given the team’s utmost lack of meaningful success even in the years he was in tip-top shape.
Just recently, he also proclaimed that he could have average 50 points per game if not for double teams, although to be fair, it’s not too farfetched for arguably the league’s best one-on-one scorer at the present.
Lastly, he indirectly chided the Celtics for their success, pointing to the fact that they have a super team. To his credit, Boston truly has one, but that he followed it up with a seemingly passive-aggressive shot at his teammates from last season when he said that him struggling automates a team loss is a bit too much, even for the diehards.
Joel Embiid definitely isn’t one afraid to polarize his audience. But certainly, with his recent historic run of hypotheticals, it would be much better if he uses these as fuel to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to an overdue championship next season.
After all, the city wants results this time, especially after an explosive summer.