“Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons remind me of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant”: Shaq’s nonchalant response to Charles Barkley’s outrageous comparison between Sixers stars and Lakers legends

Shaquille O’Neal reacts to Charles Barkley saying Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid remind him of Kobe Bryant and Shaq on the Lakers. 

Seems as though Charles Barkley has committed himself to jumping on the Philadelphia 76ers hype train following their impressive start to the 2020-21 NBA season. The 76ers are currently the number 1 seed out East, boasting a 22-11 record. 

Joel Embiid has been putting up MVP-esque performances night in and night out while Ben Simmons has been proving his worth on the defensive end of the floor. The pairing has shown flashes of improved chemistry, but they haven’t taken that necessary leap required to fully gel well together. 

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Ben Simmons has seen an increased role in the offense as he isn’t as frequently placed in the dunker’s spot and is much more involved in the offense.

Charles Barkley seems to be quite enamored by the Simmons and Embiid and took his admiration for them to another level by spouting out a rather interesting comparison. 

Charles Barkley compares Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to Kobe and Shaq

Chuck decided to draw a comparison between the 76ers duo and one of the greatest duos in NBA history. Though he didn’t outright say that Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are the 2nd coming of Shaq and Kobe, he did say that they are “Shaq and Kobe like”. 

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Shaq’s response to this was as nonchalant as it could. He hilariously did not utter a single word and just chuckled at the thought of the comparison. 

Though Embiid and Simmons are leading the Sixers to the best record in the East, comparing a duo that has not yet reached the Finals to a duo that 3-peated is quite ludicrous.

It is possible that if Daryl Morey and the Sixers decide to roll with the Simmons and Embiid pairing, they could potentially snag a ring or two. However, they are much too inexperienced together to be mentioned in the same breath as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.