“Is There A Worse Flopper In The Game Than Joel Embiid?”: Wolves Commentator Goes At 76ers Star Mid-Game

Despite being a future Hall of Famer and a former MVP, no player is trolled more than Joel Embiid. Some of the hate he gets is seen as self-inflicted, and his habit of flopping to the ground after the slightest of touches has been scrutinized and relentlessly mocked by fans online. Well, it seems that it has spread to announcers as well, as the game between the Spurs and the Timberwolves last night saw the 76ers center catch a seemingly unnecessary stray.

While Rudy Gobert was taking late-game free throws, the Wolves announcers were discussing how Embiid was ejected after aggressively complaining to the referees about Victor Wembanyama flopping a week back. He was called for an offensive foul after Wemby drew a charge, and his aggressive reaction prompted the referee to eject him after giving him a technical.

The announcers, for no reason whatsoever, criticized the Cameroonian, surprisingly saying, “I wish he’d be as angry about not playing games as he is about a call.” He didn’t stop there, however. He also added, “I mean he’s the ultimate flopper. Is there a worse flopper in the game than Joel Embiid? That dude gets so many calls and for him to be that angry about a flop, he’s got a lot of nerve.”

His words weren’t well received by fans of the 76ers. They flooded the comment section wondering why he was directing a minute-long rant toward Embiid, in a game he wasn’t even involved in. Obviously, a team’s announcer would be expected to be biased toward the franchise that employs him, but the comments about the former MVP came way out of left field, seeing how the game was between the Spurs and the Wolves, and had nothing to do with Embiid.

But there is some truth to his words. Embiid has built a very poor reputation around the league for his exaggerated acting on the floor. However, weird as it may seem, there is actually a very real reason for why Joel hits the floor so often, and no, it has nothing to do with foul calls.

Doctors advised Joel Embiid to fall down

After he was drafted in 2014, Embiid was expected to turn around the 76ers’ fortunes, but it seemed like the team’s bad luck rubbed off on him. He suffered a foot injury in August 2014 and didn’t debut for another 2 years. He’s had a lot of problems with his lower body in general, and a knee injury in Jan 2024 derailed what would’ve been another potential MVP push from him.

But in 2019, Embiid revealed to ESPN’s Chris Herring that his doctors recommended he hit the ground with his entire body, in order to minimize the damage his legs take. Spreading the impact over his entire 7-foot frame allows his legs to not take the brunt of the damage. Herring wrote,

“It was something I learned during my rehab when I was going through the foot injury when I was trying to find ways to limit the impact on my body in 2014,” he says. “I was told that every time I feel like I’m in a situation where it’s going to be some type of extreme [weight] on my leg, I’ve got to dive or just roll onto the floor. So that’s why I do it.”

Of course, this seemed to help him in the late 2010s, and his injury rate reduced drastically. But since the turn of the decade, it seems like no matter how Embiid tries to cushion his fall- using teammates or opponents as a landing pad, onto the chairs courtside, or even the cameramen just trying to do their jobs- he gets up a little worse off than he went down.

The damage he’s taken over the years has clearly taken a toll on his body, and it’s a shame to see an offensive force as great as Joel Embiid have to ration playing time because of the possibility of a significantly shortened playing career.