Joel Embiid was ranked in the Top 50, but he shouldn't be satisfied, as there were many players ranked above him that he is better than.
When ESPN released their Top 100 list, the Philadelphia 76ers were all over this list. The second-lowest player out of the five on the list is Joel Embiid. The All-Star center came in at 41, and truthfully, he should feel disrespected.
They placed him as the eighth best center on that list, and that should really get under his skin. If anything, Embiid is a top three center in the NBA. If it’s about the injuries, you can stop it right there. Blaming injury isn’t good enough to emphatically say that he’s the eighth best center.
The centers ranked above him were Victor Webanyama, Nikola Jokic, Jalen Duren, Alperen Sengun, Bam Adebayo, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Chet Holmgren.
Out of all these names, the only acceptable names to rank above him are Jokic and Webanyama. These are the only two you can claim would have the bigger impact if their team played without them.
Last season, the 76ers were 24–14 with Embiid and 21–21 without him. That is enough to show how much he matters to his team. Of the eight centers, Embiid was second in points per game with 26.9, even though he played 36 games. It’s this kind of thing that gives a player a chip on their shoulder. When they’re counted out and believed to be out of their prime, it makes a player either put up or shut up.
That’s part of the reason it was so important for Embiid to get himself into shape for the season. This time, the seven-time all-star did just that. He’s slimmed down, and it’s actually a bit scary to see. Not because he looks smaller, but because he looks way more fit, and that could be what makes him so dangerous.
Forget the fact that his size difference could mean he loses some of that strength. What you lose in one area you gain in another. If his strength does come into question, he can avoid all that by being quicker than his opponent. When you add speed to the abilities of someone like Embiid, well, it can be sure to put some new things into perspective. A certain perspective that could lead to some career-high numbers for a certain center that had been yearning for a chance to win his first championship.
Disrespect isn’t something many take lightly, and for Embiid he’s going to demand some respect when he returns to the 76ers as a new and more resilient man.
