Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Greenoffered blunt guidance to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid after the center stirred controversy by declaring he’d no longer play in back-to-back games.
Embiid’s comments added fuel to the fire after he sat out all preseason games, missed the season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks, and is expected to be sidelined for multiple upcoming games.
On The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, Green had a clear message for Embiid. “Here’s what I would say to Joel. I think you should play as many games as you can play, and I think you should average as many points as you can average,” Green said.
“I think you should chase as many individual awards as you can chase because the talk of winning a championship… you may never win one,” Green continued. “Not saying he can’t win one, but what I’m saying is you may never win one. Then you shorted yourself on the thing we know you can do, which is go get an MVP, cook everybody in the league. To sit out and say I’m trying to maximize so I can get a championship, you gotta know how to win a championship, and he doesn’t because he hasn’t done it,” Green added.
Shaquille O’Neal calls out Embiid
On a recent episode of The BIG Podcast, Shaquille O’Neal also criticized Embiid, questioning his toughness and dedication. “You have to want to be that guy, and with his statement the other day, I don’t think Joel Embiid wants to be that guy,” O’Neal stated.
“I actually want him to take it personal,” Shaq added. “You can’t come out before the season and say, ‘I’m not playing back-to-backs.’ S-O-F-T. I want the smoke. So when he came out and said he’s not playing back-to-backs, I thought, ‘Why are you tired?’ He’s not getting double- or triple-teamed; all he’s doing is pick and pop.”
Charles Barkley weighs in on Embiid’s comments
NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley also chimed in during the first episode of Inside the NBA on TNT, expressing his disappointment over Embiid’s comments. “I was so disappointed in Joel Embiid saying he wasn’t going to play back-to-back games,” Barkley said.
“You’re one of the three, four, or five best players in the world. You cannot say, as a leader of that team, ‘I’m not going to play certain games.’ That’s not the way to start the season,” he added.
Barkley concluded with a firm take on the impact of Embiid’s message to his teammates: “As the best player and a leader, I would never start the season saying I’m not going to play back-to-back games. I thought that was a bad message.”