The Philadelphia 76ers have emerged as a potent force in the Eastern Conference this season. Following their 26-13 run, Stephen A. Smith has backed them to reach the NBA Finals in the latest episode of THE STEPHEN A. SMITH SHOW. To make it a reality, the sports analyst named two conditions with one of them involving their talisman, Joel Embiid.
Advertisement
Highlighting the Boston Celtics’ offensive mistakes and the Milwaukee Bucks’ defensive flaws, Smith made a bold declaration.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to make the announcement. The Philadelphia 76ers could win the East. Joel Embiid is one reason. He is averaging 35 a game. Tyrese Maxey is another reason, averaging 25 a game.”
For that to eventually happen, the host identified Tobias Harris‘ sustained defining performances as a major condition. “The key to all of this success for the Philadelphia 76ers is Tobias Harris who dropped 24 last night in beating the reigning champion Denver Nuggets,” he mentioned before adding, “‘How aggressive is he going to be?’ That’s the question we have to start asking”.
According to Smith, another key factor behind the 76ers’ predicted success in the NBA would undoubtedly be Embiid. The 56-year-old thus compared the star center with 2x MVP and 2023 Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, highlighting,
“He has gone up against Jokic head to head 8 times and beat him 6 times, averaging 27 and Jokic is 26, shoot 38% from the three to Jokic’s 29%, averaging 11 rebounds to Jokic’s 10, has two blocks to Jokic one”.
Yet, the journalist mentioned how Jokic’s championship win last season had put him ahead of Embiid in the pecking order. That’s why Smith demanded the 29-year-old to rearrange his priority list, stating, “I don’t care about some damn MVP, not from him because we already know how great he is and his greatness has been cemented. Now it comes down to this – ‘Can you win?'”.
In retrospect, Smith’s statements carried a volume as the NBA had predominantly favoured the winners. Despite all the brilliance and record-shattering moments, Embiid has time and again failed to even qualify for the conference finals. Thus, Stephen A. expects him to take it a step further in arguably his best-ever league campaign. All in all, it put into focus the need of the hour for the 6x All-Star.
Shaquille O’Neal also demanded more from Joel Embiid
A couple of days back, Shaquille O’Neal shared a similar point of view on The Big Podcast with Shaq. Recalling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s provoking words, Diesel mentioned, “They ask Kareem, ‘What do you think about Shaq?’ and Kareem says, ‘Well, he hasn’t won any championships yet’. So that’s my message to Mr. Embiid. We know what you can do, but can you do it at the big dance?”.
The 4x champion thus highlighted the impact of Embiid’s lack of a championship ring on the pecking order, stating, “That’s why I say Joker is the best big man in the league. We all know Joel Embiid is the best big man when it comes to numbers and all that, but Joker went to the big dance and got that thing done”.
So, the 7-foot center must win a title in his career to come out of the shadows of the leading big men of the NBA. The path remains an uphill one for the Cameroon-born as the expectations continue to rise. Excitingly, it has paved the way for a ‘now or never’ premise for Embiid as the league awaits to see his upcoming endeavours.
