Joel Embiid has had an extensive injury history. Now, he's slimmed down, and Max Kellerman calls him out for poor work ethic.
“How am I supposed to make my teammates better by practicing?”
Those words were made famous by one of the best Philadelphia 76ers to ever grace the NBA, Allen Iverson. While the reasons for this comment are extremely personal, it seems there may be another 76er that could have the same ideals according to one analyst. Max Kellerman spoke with Rich Paul, and Joel Embiid’s name came up.
According to Kellerman, he had heard reports that Embiid has a low work ethic, and it may be part of his injury problems.
“When the best players get together, everyone’s got the cars and the watches and the money. The way they really compete and impress each other is by who works the hardest, and that was not Embiid, at all” said Kellerman.
Now he got this information based on what he heard from Brian Scalabrine when he covered the Olympic team. Now while some of this could be true, there’s one major problem here. Embiid was playing on bad knees. Embiid sacrificed his health to try to win a gold medal with Team USA. So, let's just nip that in the bud right now.
Furthermore, if he had such a poor work ethic, could he put up the numbers that he has over the length of his career? Kellerman seems to forget that Embiid has won an MVP award. That should speak for itself when we’re talking about a player's love for the game. If you don’t love this game, not only would the work ethic be abysmal, but you would also see it on the court.
People hold Shaquille O'Neal to be one of, if not the most, dominant players in NBA history. No one brings up his work ethic nearly as much as they should when folks mention his name. There can’t be this much double standard when we talk about players and their desire to play this game. Embiid is a big guy, so who’s to say that it’s poor work ethic and not him trying to micromanage his body?
If Embiid had such a bad work ethic, would LeBron James have chosen Philadelphia? James played with Embiid on Team USA, and there were no issues surrounding that very thing. The only thing James had a concern with was Embiid’s availability. This offseason Embiid has made it his mission to be in peak condition to allow himself the opportunity to remain healthy and help this team win.
Despite what some may say, Embiid is dedicated to this team, and with him in the best shape of his career, there’s no doubt he will be available more than he’s ever been in his entire career.
