Among many other analysts in the world, Shaquille O’Neal too is a huge fan of Joel Embiid. In fact, on many occasions during the Philly leader’s 30.6 PPG campaign in the 2021-2022 season, the Big Aristotle rallied for JoJo to even lift the Most Valuable Player trophy. However, Shaq is also a huge critic of the Cameroonian superstar whenever required. And after the horrific Game 7 outing against the Boston Celtics, the Diesel couldn’t help but highlight the 2023 scoring champion’s awful performance.
Advertisement
The first center to win the scoring title since O’Neal, Embiid is compared to the former Los Angeles Lakers legend. While both big men are dominant in the post, they are even some of the biggest players of their era. Despite the Hall-Of-Famer’s 7-foot-1, 325-pound stature, the likes of Jay Williams believe that Shaq would have “fits trying to guard” Joel.
Joel Embiid and James Harden record forgettable performances in Game 7
Having gained a 3-2 lead against the #2 Celtics, the All-Star tandem of Joel and Harden was pretty impressive in the first 5 games of this Eastern Conference Semifinals.
However, when it mattered the most, the 2 MVPs were unproductive.
While The Beard recorded a horrid 9-point performance on 27.3% shooting and a box plus-minus of -30, Embiid was barely any better. The former Jayhawk put on a shocking 15-point display on 5/18 shooting.
Shaq couldn’t help but share a graphic of the generational scorers’ off-night on his Instagram story.
On the other hand, Boston’s duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum put on a terrific show. Erupting for 25 points and 51 points, respectively, the Jays led the Massachusetts-based franchise to a 112-88 victory.
A rematch of last year’s conference finals, with the form their in, Joe Mazzulla’s boys can certainly get the better of Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat.
NBA Twitter trolls the Harden-Embiid duo for being compared to the Bryant-O’Neal duo
Of course, James Harden isn’t as lethal as he was during his MVP days. However, when he parted ways with the Brooklyn Nets to join the Philadelphia 76ers, fans instantly drew comparisons between the Joel-James duo to the legendary duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
In the beginning, the comparisons seemed fair. However, after their colossal Game 7 collapse, NBA Twitter couldn’t stop trolling Philly’s pair.
A Twitter user even called them a choker for their awful production.
Another Twitter user even suggested that had Philly drafted Tatum over Markelle Fultz in 2017, the JT-Embiid duo could’ve been like the Shaq-Kobe pair.
Talking about Joel’s mood after the blowout loss, a user stated that the Mamba nor Shaq would seem as happy as he did.
Irrespective of what Embiid stated, the Sixers had a great bunch of players. Certainly, blowing a 3-2 lead is not in terms of The Process’ legacy.
