When it looked like the Sixers were finally ready to go the distance and challenge for a long-awaited NBA championship, they’ve once again let everyone down. For the third straight year in a row, Joel Embiid and company failed to get past the Conference Semifinals.
Philadelphia blew a 3-2 lead over the Boston Celtics, who destroyed Doc Rivers’ team in Game 7 to claim the ticket to the next round. Unsurprisingly, there are many question marks around the team, just like it happened a year ago.
James Harden failed to silence his doubters and now his future in Philly looks up in the air, since he has a player option this offseason. Embiid said he will let the front office handle his teammate’s situation, but made it clear that he wants to continue playing next to Harden.
Joel Embiid says he wants James Harden to stay in Philadelphia
“I don’t know what’s going on and I know he has a player option so they can extend him,” Embiid said, as quoted by SixersWire. “That’s on those guys (the front office) to figure it out. I’m gonna stay out of it, but I still believe that me and him, we got the chance to win, but it’s gonna take more than us. We gotta look at ourselves. I gotta be better and I will be better. That’s what I’m focused on.
“All of us, we gotta come back and find ways to just keep improving and help the team,” he added. “You can’t win alone. I can’t win alone. Me and James, we just can’t win alone. That’s why basketball is played 5-on-5 so we just need everybody to just try and keep finding ways to get better and we’ll be fine.”
His latter comments made a lot of noise, since he and Harden left much to be desired in this playoffs. Either way, Embiid still believes in the duo they form and what they can bring to the city of Philadelphia. In the next few months, we’ll see whether the front office thinks the same.
