The Philadelphia 76ers have been on a disappointing run this season despite the addition of Paul George in the summer. They are currently at the 13th spot in the Eastern Conference with a 6-15 record. Charles Barkley believes what a lot of Sixers fans have already accepted, the season is already over for the 76ers.
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During an appearance on The Mark Jackson Show, Barkley expressed his disappointment with the direction his former team is headed. He believes that a major part of the blame should be put on Joel Embiid as he is the leader of the side and hasn’t set the right example for his team.
He said, “I’ve never heard a great player say, before the season, I’m not gonna play back-to-back. First red flag…If you’re gonna do it, you don’t say it.”
Barkley also shed light on Embiid’s lack of discipline. He stated that the 30-year-old can’t always be late for everything. After witnessing everything from the franchise so far in this season, Chuck has given up hope.
He added, “I think my Sixers are done. I really hate it. Because they are not good enough to make up all the ground they got to make up, but I’m really disappointed.”
Barkley believes that the careless attitude of Embiid is an indication that he is not taking things seriously and that he is also being disrespectful toward other people’s time.
Whether Barkley’s prediction that the season is over for the 76ers is correct or not, we will know in due time. For now, things aren’t looking good for the franchise. This is also not the first time that Barkley has expressed his disappointment with the 76ers.
Charles Barkley has blasted Joel Embiid for his back-to-back comment previously
When Embiid made the comment that he will not play back-to-back games for the rest of his career, it shocked a lot of fans. He said, “If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career.” Whatever his reasoning was, Barkley, as a basketball purist, wasn’t going to understand it.
On an episode of Inside the NBA, he said, “We’re playing basketball, at the most, four days a week. Most of the time, three days a week. He has the best backup in the league.”
Barkley declared that Embiid could easily manage back-to-back games by playing fewer minutes in one of the games. However, coming out openly to state that he will refrain from ever playing back-to-back games “was a stupidity by the Sixers.”
Even though Embiid later tried to backtrack from his comment, the damage was already done.
