NBA champion turned analyst Kendrick Perkins apologized to the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid.
Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid is arguably playing his best basketball in more than two years.
In January, Embiid is averaging 28.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 13 games played. Not to mention, he has only missed three games due to injury management this month.
Because of this dominant stretch, NBA champion turned analyst Kendrick Perkins felt the need to apologize to the 76ers, and more specifically, Embiid.
"I'd like to issue an apology to Daryl Morey, Joel Embiid because I didn't expect this," Perkins said on NBA Today. "If you'd asked me this two months ago, I thought Joel Embiid was on the verge of retirement, seriously, and now all of a sudden he's come back to looking like an All-NBA caliber player."
The discussion right now is whether Embiid deserves to be selected as an All-Star reserve when they're announced on Feb. 1. His level of play at the beginning of the season will certainly hurt his chances, but given his progression in recent months, the 2023 MVP has a real shot at it.
When the Inside the NBA crew (Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson) selected their All-Star reserves, only Smith had Embiid nominated.
Perkins continued, "We know that he's going to get buckets because he's one of the most skilled bigs to ever play the game of basketball, but it's the lift. He's dunking the ball now. We saw him catch an alley[-oop] like he's playing above the rim, and he's playing with force."
With the way Embiid has played in January, All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey is no longer forced to carry the load on his own. However, the rest of the 76ers' roster continues to come up short in a large number of their matchups. This was on full display in their narrow victory over the Sacramento Kings, where Embiid and Maxey combined for 77 of their 113 points. Paul George was the third leading scorer with 15 points.
It's clear for Philadelphia to find success in the postseason, not only does Embiid need to remain healthy, but the supporting cast needs to step up.
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