Kevin Durant has high praise for Joel Embiid as he takes to his ETCs podcast to say that he agrees with Embiid on his legendary skillset.
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The way that Joel Embiid has played this season is nothing short of remarkable. His ability to stretch the floor just enough to open up the rest of his game along with providing the other Sixers to thrive has been incredible to watch. So much so that Kevin Durant has taken more than just a notice of what he’s been doing all season long.
The Philadelphia 76ers are currently 1 game ahead of the Chicago Bulls for the 4 seed out East and if they were to keep this spot, it would serve them best. With Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets likely in the play-in tournament, snagging the one or two seed wouldn’t mean much if facing the Nets in the first round is their consolation prize.
Currently in the top 2 for MVP voting, Joel Embiid is averaging an otherworldly 29.7 points and 11.2 rebounds a night on 49.2% shooting from the field.
Kevin Durant on Joel Embiid and his extensive skillset.
Kevin Durant didn’t mince his words on the ETCs podcast when he said that Embiid truly has the skillset of past NBA legends like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Hakeem Olajuwon and he isn’t wrong either.
“He’s a b*tch to play against. He’s tough, he’s tough to deal with. He’s really unstoppable. He said something like, ‘I can transform from Kobe to Hakeem to Shaq to a couple other players,’ and I was like you’re telling the truth because I feel like he can play on all spots on the floor.”
The footwork that Joel Embiid puts on display on a night to night basis is reminiscent of Olajuwon while his ability to hit turnaround jumpers from the post or at the elbow are Kobe-esque for sure. Of course, his dominance in the paint is similar to Shaq’s, except for the fact that Embiid hasn’t quite yet developed Shaq’s patented 6 foot jump hook
