The Joel Embiid Era - 07/17/25

Sean Brace, Sam Oshtry, and Sean Barnard discuss Joel Embiid. With the ESPN article that dropped earlier this week, Embiid's legend in Philadelphia is once again under the microscope.

You won't find a better discussion about the Joel Embiid Era than right here on The Gambler.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio Preset Hand then new
and improved Diehard Radio app w WD two seven, Bring
d Philadelphia, Ice, Fox Sports Radio, The Gambler.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
And a good afternoon Everybody Daily Ticket with you here
on a Thursday, Chabre, Sam Austrey and unfortunately we're supposed
to be in studio today jam Pack Show, Ready to Go,
Julian Vlo Live from Vegas, Natalie Agenoffense Studio, and then Sam,
I got something that I haven't had dating back to

(00:30):
probably under ten, under nine years old, thirty plus years ago.
I don't know, but I got poison ivy some way, somehow.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
You're at the beach. I feel like that's the last
place in the world to get poisoned.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Oh no, I know where I got it.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Where was it?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
I got it from the man I got it from,
you know, the being at the Man Center on Tuesday night.
And I full, you know, we're all grown up or adults.
I don't think I'll ever use, you know, a wooded
area again to relieve myself. Let's just start in there.
I will never do it again. It's my only answer.

(01:14):
I don't have anything other than that, Like I got
it by walking through the the parking lot that is
wooded area. Again, when I left the man, I took
a wrong turn and had to go somewhat down a
path that was kind of like you know, wooded and
all that, and like, ah, you know, I'm up this way.

(01:36):
It was a late night and next thing, you know, like,
so we meet up yesterday and my foot is like
itching me, like it just bothering me. And I'm like, man,
those mosquitoes got me. And I knew it. I wore
flip flops. It's just so bad. It's such a bad
idea to wear flip flops to a concert. But I figured,
you know what, let's fit in fish. I kid, I

(01:59):
justrobably the only one there with flip flops, like an idiot.
And last night, so last night we go out, we
go to Chill Moody's event. We'll talk more about that later.
And on the way home, like you saw me, I'm like, dude,
my foot is killing me right now because I was
wearing shoes and socks all day and it just got me.
I won't lie. I took my shoes and socks off

(02:21):
in the car and I was just like dude, and
it just popped up and I'm like that's not a
mosquito bite. Those aren't They can't be mosquito bites, like
you get one or two or three whatever. These things
just it got all the way up to my ankles.
Last night was was brutal. Last night was brutal. I
put my feet in ice when I got home from

(02:42):
the event, probably about nine o'clock, and like it cooled,
it calmed everything down. But last night when I went
to bed, man I was I did a little bit
of scratching, which is never a good thing, and then
I woke up and I just was like what do
I do?

Speaker 3 (02:56):
At what point did you realize this was poison ivy
and not mosquito bite last night? Like you just looked
it up or like you just looked at it and
you're like this, this is worse than mosquito bites.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Well, you know how my brain works where I think like,
oh my god, I'm gonna have to get my leg amputated.
You know, I think the worst thing worst like is this,
you know, a disease that is uncurable whatever. But like
I said, the red marks just popped up and like
it completely took me out of my game. Like last night,
I couldn't even sleep. Woke up this morning, was just miserable.

(03:29):
Supposed to work out. I canceled everything I was supposed
to have. Just what a disaster, What an absolute disaster,
And this came out of nowhere, no fault but my
own as usual here, I think I think it was
from like the two times that I did when we
were tailgating, like I won't lie. You know, we're all
grown ups here. Probably shouldn't have go out out in

(03:51):
the woods. I think you gotta be smarter than that,
especially with flip flops. And then when I left walking through,
maybe I hit something. I don't no, but it is.
I'm not gonna show you, but it's just it's.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, I don't want to see it.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
I don't want to up to my ankle. I'll send
you a picture in the group, it's up to my ankles.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
And then I I don't think I've ever had it.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's not it says it's not, but then it tells
me like you gotta wash you know, your bed sheets,
and because we gotta have a newborn, so like I'm
I feel like I'm a terrible human right now, all
because I guess I wear flip flops and decided to
walk through the woods at the man.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Cover those ankles, Cover those ankles, cover those ankles.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, anyways, we're keeping it moving here. I'm all right,
I'll be fine. I just was a little miserable this morning,
and and we'll get past it. Obviously, there's a lot
of other things going on in this world that are
extremely more important, including let's, you know, go to a
sad note to start this show, which is very unfortunate,
but Brian Braiman passed away. Former Philadelphia Eagle linebacker was

(04:56):
on the Super Bowl team back in twenty seventeen. It
was a badass special teams player, played ninety seven total
games with the Texas and Eagles, and he passed away
at the age of thirty eight, battling a rare aggressive
form of cancer. I actually had two, maybe three times
spoken to Brian Brayman outside the facilities. That dude was

(05:17):
an awesome He was just a football player, like a
throwback program style and a dude that had an impact
with his limited opportunities with that team. And to see
a thirty eight years old man like just an aggressive
form of cancer that I don't know. I didn't read
too much in detail on that part. Maybe I should

(05:37):
have apologies about that, but it's just sad. Man, it's cancer.
It's just ridiculous. And Brian Braman at thirty eight, way
too young, and my heart goes out to anybody and
everybody affected. And of course you see all the great
players from the Eagles team, from that Eagles team that
played with them speaking on his behalf, and he really was.
He played his position well and when he got in
the opportunity of those special team to kickoffs, he made

(06:00):
the most of it. And he was a damn good
dude outside the facility too.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, it's a super sad situation. You see all the
all the Eagles and his former teammates have nothing but
great things to say about him. It seems like everyone
loved the guy, and obviously condolences out to everyone affected.
There he was. He actually had a huge punk block
against the Falcons in that Super Bowl run in that
first playoff game, a huge pump block, I believe, I

(06:24):
can't remember exactly what it was, pretty late in like
a quarter or a half, and it was it was
a big time pump block that was part of the
Super Bowl run. Like that was a huge moment that
he made. He wasn't just like a low impact player.
He was a good special teams player and a better dude.
It seems too like everyone just loved them. And so
everyone's pouring out their condolences and hearing stories about the
guy and yeah, you sent send your prayers to his family.

(06:46):
Just just an awful situation.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Terrible, terrible. And he was a beast. He was a
big boy. Like that's the crazy part about all this.
It's like, but he was healthy in the gym and
the next thing you know, it develops this and then
he's gone, uh snapping of fingers just unbelievab All right,
from that, let's transition Sean Bnard checking in, how have
we had a Sixers player pop on the injury report
with poison IVY yet? I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
I think that's the one injury that no one's somehow acquired.
Maybe you can spread it to them.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
No, No, I'm concerned about spreading it around my household
right now more than anything. But here we are, We
roll on. There's a lot to get to today, you know,
not so much hard hitting on the playing field. We
do have the open which woke up which you know,
scratching away but watching that it's disgusting. Sorry, so we'll

(07:35):
update that a little bit. But Sam, it's a perfect
day to have you on the show every day, is
no doubt about it. But a great day with the
duell Embiid piece that is really the focal point, centerpiece
of all things. Filled up the sports at this point
in time. That and Shane Gillis shotting go birds last
night one hundred times. But other than that, at least, Yes,

(07:57):
Dwell Embiid the on ESPN and you read it faster
than me. You actually read it yesterday and we got
together at the event and you said what to me
about the piece?

Speaker 3 (08:11):
I thought it was a brilliant piece, a brilliant work
of journalism. First, I mean perfectly written. And I don't
have the author's name in front of me right now.
I probably should. I hadn't really heard of the guy,
but he it was just he did a tremendous job
at that piece. I mean, brilliantly reported, brilliantly written, the
most raw honesty, and just how he got Joel Embiid

(08:32):
to open up and be that row and honest where
he's not with most people and most media guy, And
obviously from what you learned from the piece, and what
we already really knew about him was he's a very
close to the chess private loaner type person and doesn't
usually do media stuff like that. So I thought it
was it was a great piece. And look and bet
he's a complicated figure with a complicated history, and I
think the author did a great job chronicling that, going

(08:54):
back to everything, I mean, going back to his youth
and his child and how he was found as a
potentially great NBA player and then going when he came
over and IMG Academy and leaving IMG Academy and going
to Kansas and then being drafted by the Sixers and
missing the first two seasons and everything that's happened with
the Sixers over the last decade. And it did a
good great job of chronicling all that and really breaking

(09:18):
joyl and be down and layer by layer into who
this guy is. And so I thought it was brilliantly
done piece, and it got the necessary buzz and attention
that it deserved.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, the author's name, and forgive me because I have
never heard of this guy. That's the crazy part about
all this is when we started talking about this yesterday,
I'm like, where did they get this guy from? Clearly
is very talented at what he was doing before he
joined ESPN. I think you pointed out he had over
only a thousand followers on Twitter and now he's up
over a little bit twenty seven hundred. I would imagine

(09:50):
his inbox was filled, but he did put out his
email account now on his bio, so that I assume
a lot of people are reaching out trying to get
him on the show. Sho Doton Aiken toye aken Toya.
I believe it's how you pronounce his last name. And
like you said, I couldn't agree more with you. The

(10:10):
first thing that hit me after well, during your reading
your process isn't you're processing everything, putting it all together,
and you're like, man, this is so detailed the way
he's weaving it very talented. And then it goes back
and it goes way back and you talk it. They
hit on everything. It's almost like the author was this

(10:32):
diehard Sixers fan, you know, over there with Bernard and
company on Sixers Digest. You know, like, that's what struck
me more than anything. He knew the backdrop on every
single category. Now is that something because you know, I
hate to even go into this point because I don't
care how people who are in the world of look

(10:54):
at me. I need you to click on this. I
need ratings. And that's what John Kincaid is at ninety
seven five fanatic, Like the morning show host is begging
for anybody and everybody to listen to them, to watch
them on their shows, whatever it may be. So like,
I don't even want to get carried away with his take.
But like, the first thing that hit me was not, Wow,

(11:16):
this is a puff piece. Pr you know, like we
know that he keeps everything close to the vest, but
here we are somehow he's got all the information. Like
I'm going to give the author the benefit of the
doubt and say he did a tremendous job on reading
up on everything, knowing where he was going to attack everything,
and the way it was rolled out was just perfection.

(11:37):
It wasn't really good. It was a great piece.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
I don't think it was a puff piece a little bit.
Trust me. I've read a lot of journalistic work. There
are a lot of puff pieces out there, and you
know a puff piece when you read one. This not
this was not by any means a puff piece. This
was digging into the layers of Joel embiena what makes
him him, how he viewsed his career, Like is it
in depth? Look into his mind and it question you know.

(12:01):
There was a series of the author was saying to
Embiid like, here are the narratives about you. Here's your
opportunity to respond to each one, and he kept throwing
them at him. Honestly, it was sad. Like a lot
of people I sent the story to they were like,
this is depressing, Like this is depressing that, Like it
feels like he chronicled a broken man. It feels like
everything Joelle Embiid has been through reading that story, that

(12:22):
it was a sad story, not something that not some
story that painted him in a flattering light. It was like,
here is a man who's been broken by his life
experiences and now by his basketball experiences and obviously mostly
the injuries. And it felt like he was a broken man.
How this author was portraying Embiid. So I didn't look
at as a positive piece or a puff piece at all. Necessarily,

(12:42):
I think it looked at it allowed Embiid to be
viewed as a sympathetic figure, which he's rarely had the
opportunity to do in Philadelphia. Sure, if you want to
say that's true, but I think there's some some validity
to the fact that he should be viewed as a
sympathetic figure. He's been one of the more unlucky superstars
in any sport. Stip on his injuries, and you could
say some of it it's his fault, some of it isn't.

(13:03):
But it really just showed the type of person he is,
the loaner that he is, how he's scared to open
up to people, how he's constantly feeling betrayed by people.
It just was a great in depth view into the
mind of Joelle and Be the person and basketball player. So,
by no means was that a puff piece. You do
not know journalism, you do not know storytelling. If you

(13:24):
think that was a puff piece, even in the slightest Yeah, And.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
I'll pull his tweet ups so I don't get it
twisted exactly what his words were. Again, I don't care
what John Kinkaid says, like I never have, And that's
the only issue I have with all of this. Like
for the people that're giving their reaction to him, it's like,
you don't care about this guy's opinion about the Phillies
trade deadline or the Eagles what they need to do
in week two and they take on ex opponent. But

(13:48):
yet like he gives his opinion out there where it's
like this is a puff piece and you know what
he's saying, why he's saying it, and people are losing
their minds over it. But regardless, we know that's the
state of play with everything when it comes to social media.
Back to the piece itself, and you're so right, Like,
that's the point that I wanted to make. There's just
no way this is a puff piece because it was

(14:09):
too long, really solid written, and it covered everything sympathetic
figure though I am with you on that, and that's
look yesterday full disclosure. I want to say right up front,
if you tuned into yesterday's show, I said something along
the lines of number one. I'm not going to give
you a take right now because I didn't read the
whole damn thing, but initial reading quickly through it, I

(14:32):
was just like, he's got eleven bathrooms and his names
aren't like, oh whoe is me Jojo like you, But
you go through the whole thing, and yes, he's been
through a lot. Man, think about his life, where he
comes from, who he's been here with, and you're right,
it is said, that's what struck me most in anything,
and to the point that, like I love Jojo, you

(14:54):
know that that article was not for me. You know,
it was to a point because like you know, I
want to know about the Sixers big man and everything
that's going on in his mind and revisiting some of
the things that maybe we had questions about. Sure, but
I have never been critical of Joel Embiid. Never said
that he wasn't a warrior, never thought that he wasn't

(15:14):
the cornerstone of this franchise. He was just a big
man that you knew eventually would deal with some issues
as far as health is concerned. And we're here now.
But man, if he could stay on the court, he
could be one of the greatest players to ever play
in the NBA. And he's shown us that. So that's
my big point. Like as I was reading it, you know,
and I guess I got carried away long winded here

(15:36):
thinking of like everybody's opinion, that piece wasn't for me,
Like I knew all a lot of that stuff, and
I've been on team Joel here, but for the people
out there that are negative, that are critical, that do
really do believe that, like Joel Embiid. Oh, you know
when they throw up the category of miss games versus
games played. He missed the first two seasons because of surgery.

(15:58):
You know, like, what, what do you expect those numbers
are gonna tally up? But when he is on the floor, Sam,
he's one of the best, damn players. And that's one
thing that I will always remember about Joel Embiid. And
I hate to say that we're almost coming up with
the post mortem here, you know, the obituary, but it
could be the reality of the situation. Joel Embiid was

(16:18):
one of the best players I've ever seen play in
the NBA period, bar Nune.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
There's a lot of layers to unravel with this story,
and we will. We're hitting all all of them. I
don't believe in Joel Embiid. Let me just finish that
sentence there. I don't believe in Joel Embiid, but it
has nothing to do with a lot of assertions that
have been thrown out about what everyone else says about him.
I don't believe in Joel and Bie because I don't
think he could ever be healthy for a playoff, front
for a serious playoff from late in the season, and

(16:45):
that's legitimate concern. There's a million evidence to point to that.
The assertions that people want to throw out and a
lot of Sixers fans have thrown out at him, but
especially the ones that don't like him, that he's lazy
and soft, are just bs. Those are just absolute bs.
He is not lazy. You do not start playing the
game basketball at sixteen years old and develop into one
of the greatest scorers per minute the game has ever seen,

(17:09):
the basketball game has ever seen. This guy started playing
at sixteen years old. When he came to the US.
He didn't even know how to catch the ball. He
couldn't move his feet properly. You do not become that
great by being lazy. So that when people try to
claim that he's lazy, it is just absolute nonsense, because
there's no way you can become that great without putting

(17:29):
in exceptional, exceptional amount of work. So let's just dispel that.
If you say, if someone says he's lazy, turn them off,
don't listen to him. Second thing is he's soft, and
a lot of people like to say he saw I
don't agree with that. And something that piece showed was
against the Knick series, his knee was blown up. In
that piece, it was a quote from Nick patuon Nick

(17:51):
Batoon when Nick Batun was talking about how he sat
right next to him his locker room and he looked
at his knee. He was like, how the hell is
this guy playing? He looked at his knee and it
was blown up in that next series a couple of
years ago when he actually dropped fifty in one of
those games, I believe it was Game three. He's not soft.
The guy's played through a ton of injuries. Yes, I
don't believe in him because of his injury history and

(18:11):
because of the fact that this guy can't stay healthy,
but that's not all his fault. It's a lot of
unlucky injuries. He's had a ton of face injuries that
have kept them out of games and playoff games. The
knee injury originally stemmed from a Warriors player falling on
his leg, So a lot of these injuries, just like
unlucky weird bounces that he's suffered. I don't believe that
means he's soft. He's still played through a ton He's

(18:32):
played through these face injuries. He's played through most injuries,
and he's tried to give it a go. And I think,
you know, he talks about in that piece with the
distrust he has for the Sixers organization or he had,
and he kind of alludes to still having and we'll
talk about that. But there's no way you can say
he's soft based on how many injuries he's he's played through.
You can say he's injury prone, but he's not solved.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
No, you're right, And again, never have I ever said
Joell and beat soft.

Speaker 3 (18:57):
A lot of fans do half the half absolute say,
at least half the fan base has labeled him soft
or lazy at one point in time.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Soft. I think that's a little high on the percentage.
Lazy I can get there, because the conditioning was the
big thing, right every single year. You're just like, dude,
what is going on right now? Like, how are you
not ready to go? How are you not in there
game one, playing in you know, week one, week two,
playing four quarters at full strength and in the whole road.

Speaker 3 (19:29):
But that's part of the injuries. Like a lot of
these times where he's been injured in the playoffs or
excuse me has been poorly conditioned in the playoffs is
because he's been coming back from injuries, so it's hard
to ramp up that conditioning. I know people hate hearing
the word ramp up six in the air, but he's
had to ramp up his conditioning coming back from injuries.
So that's not all on him. That's part of the

(19:50):
injury factor. I attribute that more to the injury factor
more than laziness.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, no, I'm with you, and like you said, the
layers to it. The other thing I would say from
this piece, Sam, is that like with you know, the
fact that he did deal with these injuries. The Sixers
never did him any any favors either, right, like the Sixers,
the pr staff, the fact that the team came up short. Like,
regardless of how you feel about him, that dude's still

(20:17):
bald in that Knick series, right Like, even though he
was hurt, he had fifty in the Game three. I think,
if I'm not mistaken, like he's still balled out and
they came up short. Now it was their games that
Jowell ebid should have done more. Absolutely, Game seven against
or Game seven against Boston and Boston Game six at
home is a game that sticks out to me, I
believe if I'm not mistaken, so like he's not the

(20:37):
perfect you know, like the angel here. And I didn't
think that the Maybe some people could have thought that
the piece was trying to make Joellenbiid out to be
the fall guy, the you know, the the guy that
never never does anything wrong it's everybody else's fault. I
didn't really get that either, because there were times where
I just thought it was an open, honest conversation with

(20:58):
a great reporter who was tackling the emotional trauma that
he's been through with losing his brother and and the
fact that you know, he's trying to be you know,
liked by everybody and and be the great basketball player
that he's capable of for this city and it's just tough.
Like I thought it was a real honest piece. And
that's what it comes back to for me again to

(21:19):
help them.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
Like just to just to jump in real quick and
actually we're gonna have a special guest popping on in
a second.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
Nice but.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Just just to like go back to what you said
something earlier, the Sixers let him down for an early
part of his career. That's true, and maybe you could
argue that Inbid wasn't quite mature enough in that early
part of his career when that Raptor series and a
couple of those other playoff runs they let him down
the early part of his career. His body has let
him down the second part of his career. And we're
talking like the MBID story is over when it might

(21:46):
not be. I mean, in all likelihood, the EMBIID that
we know who was an mv B cannon who's playing
his actual best basketball in the beginning of the twenty
twenty three season. I mean, this guy was gonna become
the first player since Wilt Chamberlain was on pace to
to average over a point a minute. He was averaging
thirty five points in thirty four minutes before he got
injured in that twenty twenty three started that season, and

(22:09):
of course he misses the most of the year coming
back and against the next series, and isn't really healthy
when he's back for that. But this guy was on
trajectory to be that level of a play and his
body has let him down in the back of his career.
But it is true the Sixers and all the dysfunction
that they dealt with let him down in the first
half of the GRAMM. You can look at the Jerry
Colangelo situation, and he and Beat alluded to himself where

(22:31):
his own general manager in president basketball operations was more
focused on burners than building a good basketball team. You
can look at the Fultz situation. You can look at
the Ben Simmons situation, how that ended, and the whole
thing with Doc Rivers and him showing up to training
camp and it was just a mess. And then you
look at Harden and you're bringing up a serial playoff
underperformer who actually had some good moments with him and

(22:52):
Embiid and they ran the pick and roll brilliantly. And
then how the whole thing with Harden and moriy ends,
and Harden's calling out Darryl Morian in China saying he
can't trust this guy. I mean, there has been dysfunctional
moment after dysfunctional moment, and most of it hasn't actually
had to do with Embiid other than his injury injuries
and health status. So the Sixers absolutely let him down.

(23:14):
That's just a fact. The Sixers let him down. His
body has also let him down the second half of
his career. There are a couple of things in that piece, though,
I do want to get to though, and sure where
there are there is some legitimate claims, and part of
it is that he's not a great leader. And that's
something that the author said to him. He was like,
you don't have the intangibles. There's a narrative out there

(23:35):
where you don't have the intangibles to lead. First, I mean,
I'd like to hear what you think about that, but
I have some thoughts as well.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
Well from knowing what I know behind the scenes. That's
one hundred percent factual, right, Like there has been I
have put out multiple stories on the air with really
good sources. One specifically took place in Miami where Joelle
Embiid was dining with Jimmy Butler. He told the team
he wasn't feeling well. Team went out after a game

(24:04):
in Miami and Joel Embiid was out with Jimmy Butler.
He didn't want to hang with the team. There's been
multiple and again, what just came out this past offseason
or at the beginning of the season with him being late. Yeah,
Joelle Embiid, no one's challenged him from day one. They
gave him the contract it's been Joel Embiid's world with
that with that franchise, and and I get it, he's

(24:26):
not the only superstar of that team's uh you know,
sway to in that manner, but eventually that's going to
catch up to you. And I think in that role
specifically to what you're asking about him being a leader, Yes,
right there, that's the point.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
And I think that's something the piece did a great
job of touching on, and that you know, this piece
almost confirms that story in a way where the guy
is an introvert, like he is a lonely guy. He
does not trust people. He's very skeptical, skeptical of a
lot of people. And I think it was trust this
you started really in his life, very early in his life.
But sure in terms of his basketball NBA career, they

(25:02):
started early with the Sixers organization and they permeated throughout
different front offices, all those trustees that he's had, And
I think that speaks to the fact that he's been
distant from the team a lot of times, but that
all leads to him not being a great leader. And
I think when you're actually looking at Okay, what does
it mean to be a great leader. He answered the
question about his leadership ability and he said, I'm someone

(25:24):
who leads by example. If you're going to lead by example,
you have to set the right example with good habits.
The guy at this stage of his career was called
out by Tyrese Max at the beginning of this season
for being perpetually late to stuff and having a bad
attitude and bringing the mood of the team down. That's
leading by example, but awful leadership because because now you're

(25:45):
the best player and everything that you're bringing in your
attitude is permeating to the entire team, and now the
whole team is a bad attitude. So I don't think
he's a good leader. I just don't. I don't think
he's a good leader. I think that's something legitimate that
the actually the piece explored. When people were saying it's
a puff piece, I don't agree with that because I
think the puff piece kind of confirmed the fact that

(26:06):
he's not a good leader. This guy is a distant,
lonely dude and doesn't like to be around other people,
doesn't trust a lot of other people. So I think
that's something the piece confirmed, and that's something that's hard
for a lot of teams to deal with when your
best player should be your leader, but your best player
doesn't have leadership capabilities, showing that something. The Sixers have
dealt with this entire and be its entire tenure. And

(26:28):
he's been coddled, and he's been coddled, and he really
has been coddled his entire life. There was a story
in the piece when he stayed with the host family
when he really got to America before I believe I
amgre maybe a second location, but in high school. But
he stayed with the host family and he didn't open
up to the host family at all, and that host
family was coddling him. His trainers talked about coddling him,

(26:49):
and they were saying, maybe we regret codding him. This
guy's been coddled his entire NBA existence, and I think
that's been a problem.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
Again, not the only superstarter was ever treated like that,
no doubt about it. Seamanar just gonna join us in
just a second. But I think you know both things
can be true. I'm right there with you about the leadership,
and I thought that that was pointed out exactly the
way you did just now in the piece, he quoted
by saying he's not blameless with all the missteps right
and that have contributed to the sixer struggle. He also

(27:19):
said that he was misunderstood, which I do believe is true.
Right Like this is this is a classic case of
where a lot can be true. Man, a lot can
be true. And that's where we're at right now. What
Sean Manard thinks, he joins us right now? Love it, Sean.
I don't know, Man, I would have hit you up.
I thought you were working. I apologize, but great to
have you on the stream. Look, let's just dive right

(27:40):
into it, because I know you're you're fired up and
you want to get into this. But let's start with
the fact that people are saying that this was written
by an NBA reporter and it was one side there. Yeah,
a very positive piece and cuddly, a fluffy piece according
to a an Am Rad show host here in Philadelphia,

(28:01):
that just wants everyone to look at him for the
ratings purpose. But your thoughts on what we just discussed here.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
Sir, Yeah, and I do have a lengthy to do list.
I was starting to rip through here, but I'm fired
up and have to talk about this a little. And
I'll start by saying, here, the number one thing that
I want to lead with is forever we've talked about
why do we never hear from Joel Embiid?

Speaker 5 (28:19):
Why does Joel Embiid never open up?

Speaker 4 (28:20):
Where is like I can speak personally here being in
the press room, I've been there where Joel Embiid decides
he's not speaking on that day, or you wait for
forty five minutes or half hour because he's doing treatment
or whatever, and then the pr come out and say,
nat Joel doesn't want to have it, or he's doing
at his locker day. He's as guarded as I've ever
seen an athlete the first time really in his entire
career that he's let his guard down, be vulnerable and

(28:42):
speak a little bit on like what his mentality is,
how he got to this way, which was in my opinion,
sort of the premise the entire article of how did
Joel get to be this version of Joel Embiid? That
is what the article was to me there and then
the reactions are immediately this is a fluff piece, This
is whatever. If you want the why for why did
Joel and Be never open up? Why does he not
give his real opinions, That is the answer right there,

(29:04):
the direct reaction to this article, which is one of
the better journalistic pieces I've ever read, straight up the
way that he got into that. I'm blown away that
this reporter who you guys mentioned at the top here
not a guy that I've ever heard of, or what
a way to launch yourself into this world by writing
a piece like this. I don't know how he got
this level of access to Joelle, because as I mentioned,
it's been like Fort Knox trying to get an interview

(29:25):
with the dude. But like, it blows my mind, like
some of the reactions that are coming away with it,
and I think like this is just more of the
example of why he's one of the more misunderstood human
beings in the world, no doubt.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
I think Sam would agree with you. I agree with
you on that as well. And again we're giving a
lot of kudos to the author, and it seems like
I think he's been other places. I would hope that
this guy was not just fresh out of college and
this is the first piece he wrote, Like he's really talented,
So we're gonna learn a lot more about the author.
But you know, it was crazy Sean. The big thing

(29:56):
to me is just the way that he was able
to weave everything. It felt like he knew exactly what
he was talking about. With the point of questions of
Sam has been bringing up as well, what is the
next box that you want to check as far as
your hit list is concern.

Speaker 4 (30:09):
Well, I want to interject on something you guys said
about like the organization catering to Joel, Like the why
of that question is think through how all this went
down that I'll start with me personally, what Joel Embiid
means to me as a Sixers fan here is I
remember the process days. I've watched all eighty two games
of Tony Roten balling out and maybe Brandon Davies can
be an NBA player, and all these guys that we've

(30:29):
walked through here, and then all of a sudden, there
is this guy, Joel Embiid, who's drafted with a third
overall pick, who coins himself the process, who embodies an
era more than any basketball player that you could ask for,
a guy that wore it on his sleeve, was talking
all this trash before he stepped on the floor, and
then the second that he did step on on the floor.

Speaker 5 (30:46):
It was like, Wow, the Sixers might have something special.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
That I remember that turnaround jumper he hit that first
buck in his career against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That
It's like there's something And what was the trajectory of
Joell Embiid's career from here? Why was the Sixers organization
came to him? It is not just because he's this
MVB caliber of talent, one of the best basketball players,
one of the most talented basketball players to ever grace
the sport. It is sort of by default here is

(31:10):
look at what happened all around him that we can
talk about the organization, how went from Sam Hinkey, how
he was kicked out of here, the Colangelo's brought in
who did their best to burn down this entire organization,
and Joel Embiid continued to stick in here.

Speaker 5 (31:22):
Darryl Mory now in charge.

Speaker 4 (31:23):
How many star players have you seen run through that
level of front office turnover and then coaches that. It
has been Brett Brown, it has been Doc Rivers, it
is Nick Nurse, now his co stars, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler,
James Harden. You can run down the list and in
each one of these situations. I think from Joel Embiid's
perspective here it is fair to look at it in
his shoes and say, these guys quit on me. That

(31:43):
Ben Simmons directly said, I'm holding out, I'm not coming back.
James Harden went to China with a telling children that
Darryl Mory is a liar and I'll never play for
an organization that he represents. And where does Joel Embiid
get from that? Is he just had to sit at
there and take the lumps and show up and push
through all this. So why is the organization cater to
Joel Embiid Is not just for he's this caliber of
talent and worth it. It is kind of because he

(32:05):
has stuck through it all. And in all of this,
who's the one guy who has not left, who has
not had that wandering eye?

Speaker 5 (32:11):
And look at the NBA nowadays.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
From Bradley Beal, you can run down the list, Kevin
Durant of the next, this guy's force, Now, this guy's
being a trade. Joelle and be just stuck in there
and took his lumps, And that's so rare in today's NBA.
That's something that I think should be appreciated more from him,
and I like, it just doesn't make sense to me.

Speaker 5 (32:27):
Why that doesn't get praised again.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
But let me see, I think he's I think he's
onto something there, Sam.

Speaker 3 (32:32):
But let me say this, like that was a very great,
passionate defense of Joel Embiid. Absolutely, he also is not
completely absolved to blame here. Sure, I mean two things
are true. He has dealt with some absolutely horrible situations
in the NBA, from the front office, from coaching to
the star players, everything you just laid out. He also
deserves blame for the fact he has not been healthy.

(32:54):
And however you want to assign that blame to him,
whether you want to say that's conditioning or and that's
on him or it's complete unluck just horrible luck, which.

Speaker 5 (33:02):
I think somebody have to give.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
Absolutely, but whatever it is, he deserves blame for not
being healthy in the biggest moments that he that he's
needed to be, which is just true. The guy can't
stay healthy when he needs to stay healthy. And so yeah,
two things are true. That the organization certainly hasn't helped
him out. And that's that was to my earlier point
with the first half of his career, or really the
five year stretch where he wasn't completely healthy, but they

(33:25):
had chance. The Sixers had chances, and it was the
organization that let him down. But now the second half
of his career, it's his body that's let him down.
And Embiid's body deserves as much blame as the organization.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
But you know what he hasn't done in any of
those situations is rollover and quit that. I've seen Joel
Embiid with a torn moniscus and half a functioning face
score fifty points against the New York Knicks in the playoffs.
I've seen Joel Embid hit a game winner over the
Toronto Raptors with a torn ligament in his thumb. That
for all these body issues, that for sure, you're fair.
The bottom line is like that is a part of
the entire equation here. But what does he do is

(33:58):
he suits up and tries, He suits up and competes,
and he gives it. Like I don't understand, like the
amount of hatred that is in the air for this
dude who in a lot of ways, You're right, he's
not perfect, but he embodies like the star player and
the face of an organization.

Speaker 5 (34:12):
In a way that very few guys do well. All right,
go ahead, here's.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
My problem with that. And I'm not calling him soft.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
I just I'm with you on that.

Speaker 3 (34:19):
He is a warrior, and this guy's played through a
ton of injuries. He's absolutely not soft. And it's funny.
When I was reading the piece, I was like, oh
my god, like because obviously remember the knee with the
next series and everything. I was like, he did a
bellst palalsy doing that series. It's just he didn't even
couldn't even feel his face. It's really absurd the stuff
that he's had to deal with. But here you say,
he's embodies everything you want your face of an organization
to be. He's not a good leader. Can you can

(34:41):
see that? Always say it again?

Speaker 5 (34:45):
Is the best player? Always?

Speaker 3 (34:46):
No? But when you want to win, the best player is.
And I think Kevin Durant is a really good example
of this where Kevin Durant isn't a good leader either.
He's similar to him beat in the fact that he's
an introvert. This guy is kind of like a perpetually
lonely dude. Kevin Durant, he keeps to himself, doesn't trust
a lot of people similar to Embiid, and those guys
usually aren't good leaders. And Kevin Durant has never been

(35:06):
a leader of a championship team or anything that's gotten
that close to a championship team. The only times one
championship was with Steph and Draymond, who are the leaders
of that team. So Embiid, your best player isn't always
the leader. But usually if you're gonna be a great
team and you want that guy to be face of
your franchise, your best player is gonna be a leader.
And it's pretty clear and be can't be a leader.
The guy was ten years into his career and still

(35:28):
showing up late consistently had to be called out by
a twenty three or twenty four year old.

Speaker 5 (35:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (35:33):
I mean, in an ideal world, your best player is
your leader, but we don't live in an ideal world,
and that's not like the characteristics that everyone gets here.
And for Joelle specifically, I also think that he has
kind of been left on an island here that when
you talk about like a developmental path for a young
player or a prospect, you have this like infrastructure catered
for them to grow in.

Speaker 5 (35:50):
He's never had that that he is the infrastructure.

Speaker 4 (35:53):
He's basically been like entirely on his own, built himself
up to the town he is, to the point where
he had they had an intern and thuring his rehab
when he first got here.

Speaker 2 (36:01):
This was I believe, I believed when he was drafted
they were still working on a p colm right right,
like that the practice facility wasn't built, like you know,
the training staff was was probably a little inadequate at
the end of the day, and reading that and seeing
the intern, you know, that really blew blew my mind
to a point. But going back to those days, things
are a lot different now, and partly because of Joelle Embii.

Speaker 4 (36:25):
Yeah, because he's worth it, and because like it's a
miracle from a lot of different ways that he's been
able to grow to this level of talent and this
effective of a basketball player when you talk about all
the circumstances. So like it's just the reaction to this
article have been bizarre to me. To me, like, I
think this should be taken as this guy let his
guard down for the first time in his entire career,
and I think that's really cool because at the end

(36:46):
of the day, he's still a human being that it
doesn't not matter how many millions of dollars are in
the bank account. That when you haven't seen your brother
in three years and he passes away, when you're in
the same country and you can't fly from Los Angeles
to the East coast to see him because you have
broken foot in camp fly after surgery, that still stings, man,
that there's no amount of money that can fix that
kind of stuff. You talk about the next series with
the bells, poulsying the knee, his trainer texting him or

(37:08):
his physical therapist at three am after a whole rehab
of you don't have to do this, man, this is
your body.

Speaker 5 (37:13):
You have to live through all the rest of your
life with whatever this goes down.

Speaker 4 (37:17):
And what happened, Joelle Andbi went out and dropped fifty
points the next game after this, Like it's bizarre to me,
It's very bizarre to me.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Well, I just want to say from you know again,
everybody's gonna have an opinion, especially this day and age
social media easy to get out there and easy to
not so much say like hate on Joel embiid, But
there are plenty of people that will check that box
that will be in that category. I will give you
my thoughts where it's like the what And again, this
hit me a little bit yesterday before I had a

(37:45):
chance to read it at all, but I just just like,
it's to me, it's what have you done for me lately? Right?
And I think that's the frustrating part. And I think
you're seeing a lot of that with the people that
maybe aren't as passionate what there takes as you are, Sean,
And I think you're right on a lot of the
But I'm in the position now where it's like, man, like,
this is all great, and I understand it. He's a

(38:07):
human being, he's been through a lot. I know all
this stuff that he's been through. We've been here, but
it's like, what have you done for me lately? And
it seems like, man, that this is going to be
another loss season this year where he even came out
and said he's going to do it his way. Whatever
that means. My hope is is very minimum at this
point in time for Joelle Andbid finding the floor for
thirty plus games next year. So yeah, I mean that

(38:29):
comes into a lot of people's takes, and that's just
me putting my hand in the air, saying, you know what,
as I'm getting through the piece, that's what I'm thinking about.
But at the same time, when I finished it, I
could not help but be floored with the way it
took me through the weaving and everything that slowly dissipated

(38:49):
and put in the back of the bus. I was
really blown away with everything as a whole.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
And I think that's fair. And I don't know how
you read that piece without coming away with some type
of compassion and everything he's been through personally and professionally
with the injuries. But at the same time, after you
get past that compassion and you think of him as
a sympathetic figure, it's like the best I mean, I

(39:14):
cringe every time I even say it or hear it,
because it's the biggest cliche in all sports. The best availability,
the best ability is availability, and I botch the time somehow.
But like, in a sense, it's true. The guy can't
play basketball for long stretches anymore. Like he can't. There's
no reason to trust him at this point of his career,
and there's so much mistrust built in between him and

(39:35):
the sixth organization even prior to Darren Moore got here.
But It's permeated throughout Darryl Moore's tenure as well. So
what is what's next? Like what now? Because you can't
trust the guy to play basketball? And it does feel
like we were talking about earlier in the obituary sense
where it's a post more career, But like what now?
Is the question.

Speaker 5 (39:57):
The best availability? Our best ability is ailability. It's just
straight up false.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Like I I, it's true, extend.

Speaker 3 (40:02):
If you're not out there, what does it matter how
great of a player you are, It means nothing.

Speaker 5 (40:06):
So Paul Reid played eighty two games two years ago.
You want him over Joel Embid.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
No, that's not the point. The point is that you're
number one. Thing is that you have to be available,
and then if everyone's available, then you can start evaluating
these guys how it goes.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
But Joel and be not being available? You know, come on,
Sean is such a domino in the way that.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
Everything's supposed to How are you supposed to win anything
with him not being available? How you supposed to be
supposed to.

Speaker 5 (40:28):
Win anything without him? Is the better question there? And
for all this, what have you done?

Speaker 2 (40:33):
You haven't won anything with him?

Speaker 5 (40:35):
Fair? But for all this, what have you done for lately.

Speaker 4 (40:39):
We're less than two years removed from this guy being
the Clear Cup Best player in basketball, but he was
on his way to his second consecutive MVP, putting up
more points per game than Wilt Chamberlain, the best. He
currently right now has the most points per game or
points per minute in NBA history right now, that is
the live record that Joel Embiid holds with this and
like I get it, like he obviously the injuries are

(40:59):
a factor here. It's largely overblown with Mbid that I
would throw that out here if you want to run
how many games he played obviously the last two years
of the issue before that played sixty six, sixty eight,
fifty one, fifty one, sixty four, sixty three games.

Speaker 5 (41:12):
You can like raise your eyebrows at that.

Speaker 4 (41:14):
That's pretty on part with stars Nowaday, that's more than Luca,
That's more than Kawhi. That's more than a lot of
guys that you would currently throw in this this list.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
But I think that there's two sides to that conversation,
like who's we already hit it shot. He's been very unlucky,
Like this has been ridiculous, the stuff that he has
had to deal with. So I can't get with you
on that one. Yeah, sure, if you want to look
at the box score, that's fine. But he has picked
up an injury at the most important part of the season.
How many of those seasons that you just discussed, it's

(41:42):
the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
It's getting through an entire season, that's the point of
it's it's in the playoffs. Are you gonna be healthy?
That's what matters, And time and time again he hasn't been.

Speaker 4 (41:51):
The other part that I'll point to that I think
is true of Joel Embiid that I think you can
only say about for maybe four other players in the NBA,
and again like last year being the clear Honestly, I
would even throw this is evidence of it. If you
have Joel Embiid on a semi available basis, that is
a winning basketball team and a playoff team. That is
true regardless of the other four players around him, and
has been throughout his career, like even the Kevin Durants.

(42:12):
And you can throw around all these names who historically
might rank better, you can make an argument are a
more higher caliber of talent. They don't raise the floor
to the level that Joel Embiid does. That has been
true throughout the entirety of his career, that when Joel
Embiid is on the floor, the Sixers are going to
be a relevant and competitive basketball team. And that's like
hard to find, man Like, you don't find guys Jalen
Brounson can't do that, Tyrese Haliburton can't do that. They

(42:35):
need other guys around him in a way that I
don't think MB does. And I think that gets like
like that is a very unique and individual accomplishment that
Joel is able to cling on too.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
I will never argue with the player that Joel Embiid is.
It's impossible. He is a special talent. But you know
what makes him so special is also what is contributed
to his downfall. He is a seven foot two hundred
and seventy pound big men who moves with the fluidity
of a guard. And as that piece pointed out, that
is not sustainable. You're going to talk to any doctors

(43:06):
and they'll tell you the inertia on the muscles, and
that's what that piece pointed to, is the inertia on
the muscles is not sustainable at when he can move
at that level with that fluidity, as in that body.
It's just not and that's the bottom line, and that's
why we've seen these injuries happened throughout his career, and
that's why they're continuing to happen. And his knee obviously
isn't healed now, and I was going into another season

(43:28):
with his knee not healed and will it ever be healed?
And there's better reason to suggest no or to say
no than to say yes at this point.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
Yeah, Like you know, again, Sean, you are right. I
think you could be just a tad bit more on
the positive side than I am with the whole joyl
and being. And again it comes back to what have
you done for me lately? And that's where Sam is
spot on his last take, where we knew this day
was going to come. And I don't think Sean correct
me if I'm wrong. I don't think you're on the

(43:59):
island that Sam and I. I don't have any expectations
for him moving forward with this team. I just don't.
And I'm not trying to play doctor. I'm just being
realistic that when they did draft him, these are the
things we were saying at that point in time, that
this is a big ass dude, that Sam just pointed
out plays the game as a guard that eventually father
time is going to catch up and it probably will

(44:20):
be quicker than other players out there. It just is
the facts. And oh, by the way, everything that he
went through in the first two seasons, and oh, by
the way, everything that he has continued to deal with
injury related over the past few seasons.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
I've told this story before, but it was a summer
of twenty seventeen after Dan Gilbert, excuse me, after it.
Joel Embiid's like breakout season obviously didn't finish the season
that year, but he was like, Okay, this guy is legit,
even though he played forty games that summer. I ran
into Dan Gilbert in Florida, owner of the Calves, who

(44:55):
with the number one pick in that twenty fourteen draft,
and me and the people I was with asked him, said,
why don't you draft Joel Embi like, this guy looks
like he could be legit, And of course they went
with Andrew Wiggins instead, And he said that all of
his doctors, every doctor he talked to, said that this
guy will not last five years in the league, and
that obviously didn't end up being true. He surpassed everybody's expectation,

(45:18):
and the fact that he became an mvbknate was so impressive.
But I tell that story to say there was always
an early expiration date on this guy's career, and I
think we're hitting that date because he surpassed every expectation
and Sixers let him down throughout that. But that expiration
date is coming, and every doctor knew it before and
every doctor can look at it now. It's coming based

(45:38):
on the body that he is.

Speaker 4 (45:40):
Yeah, So for the skepticism that I can sense in
this stream right here, what's your solution? Then tell me
what is your game plan for how can the Sixers
have a better chance at winning than continuing to ride
with Joel Embiid.

Speaker 2 (45:53):
I'm with you. That's why Darryl Moury came in and
gave these contracts, and that's why I'm looking at Daryl
Moray a little bit differently. Darryl Moury he could draft well,
but it was a mistake too. And this is another
conversation for another day, because I don't know if I'm
sitting here telling you that I would not have given
Joelle Embiid that extension. But Sean if he's not going
to play more than twenty games. No, you don't, because

(46:15):
at the end of the day, the reason why Daryl
Moury and the Sixers gave him that contract is because
they want him to finish his career with the seventy
six Ers. They want this dude's jersey and the rafters,
they want to build a statue. And you know it's
all about entertainment. Yeah, and oh, by the way, what
else could you get. Let's just be honest about that.
The value of flipping him, is there a possibility of

(46:35):
trading him?

Speaker 5 (46:36):
All of that?

Speaker 2 (46:37):
I get it. It was very easy for Daryl Moury
to say, we're gonna give you a contract and you're
never going to play for another team, big man. But
he's in those positions to make those difficult decisions.

Speaker 5 (46:47):
That's sad, mind you.

Speaker 4 (46:49):
He let his boy James Harden walk out of the
organization over a money comera.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
He didn't have a choice. He didn't have a choice
on that one. That's different.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
If if you're gonna say that he can't that he's
the guy that made the time call and paid Joel
and Biid. He's also got to be the same guy
that is the tough call that didn't pay James Harden.

Speaker 2 (47:05):
I would just say that to me. I think it's
more of an organizational plan with Joel Embiid ownership, all
that rolled up into him and how they're going to
handle him moving forward versus James Harden, who played what
a season year and a half. I think, like you know,
and and and again, I want to reiterate the fact

(47:27):
that I probably am giving Joel and Be that contract
extension last year, But you can't tell me that that
was the right decision.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
Well to answer to answer your question like what do
you propose that you do, there's not really a good answer,
because first off, I wouldn't even propose trading Joel Empiid,
But no one would want Joel emp because his value
I mean people would take him, but his value'd be
so low, wouldn't be worth the Sixers to trade Joel
empi I think the answer to that question is in
that piece where the author asked Daryl Moore. Yet they'

(47:55):
sit down like what's next? Like what happens if this
Joel Andbiad thing is over? And he didn't have an answer.
He laughed, the nervous He just looked at each other,
and they nervously laughed because he didn't have an answer.
And then the author went back to Joel Embiid and
told him that, and asked Joelanbiid the same question, and
Joelanbiid nervously laughed too, and that everyone just first into laughter.
And you don't want to know why. It's because nobody knows.

(48:17):
The answer is that Daryl Morey won't be here, whether
there is Joel Embiid of essentially jolanbid experiment eventually ends,
whether that's by his own volition or Josh Harris's choice,
whatever it is, he won't be here. So I actually
we've talked about this a lot. The Sixers were actually
pretty well set up for the post and beat era
then you would have expected them to be a few
years ago. But still the answer is you just keep

(48:37):
hoping that will be healthy, but there's no reason to
actually be optimistic or have any hope.

Speaker 5 (48:42):
Yeah, go ahead, chum, I mean like I hear you
on all that I think.

Speaker 4 (48:47):
And by the way, that nervous laughter was the realization
of Darryl Moury of like, if Joel andbi never gets healthy,
I'm fired.

Speaker 2 (48:52):
Is what that means.

Speaker 4 (48:53):
Absolutely, that's what that the thing that he did not
want to say that I believe his quote was I'm
gonna I'm gonna choose to look pastily at this, or
he said something along those lines.

Speaker 5 (49:02):
Was the answer.

Speaker 4 (49:03):
The negative answer is if this does not work, this
is directly Daryl Moury's like career. That's his job on
the line for this, and that's the bet that he
made by giving that contract extension. But I still think
that's the right bet. That there is no world where
you have a better chance than and Darryl in particular
is as Star Obsessed says, you'll kind of find a
general manager here. That the blueprint to winning in the NBA,
to winning championships in the NBA has always been you

(49:26):
have to have a clear cut top five, top ten player.
There's no pathway to having a better chance at that
than hoping Joel Embiid is healthy, which is the bet
the Sixers will continue to double down.

Speaker 3 (49:35):
So here's where there's some concern moving forward is that
I alluded to this earlier, but there was some deep
seated trust issues that exist between Joel Embiid and the
Sixers front office That goes back to pre Mory pre
Darrel Morriy's front office, where early on in his career,
the front office was essentially forcing and beat to play,

(49:57):
and Embiid was saying, he's not ready, he's still injured.
And then a doc, yeah, one hundred percent, he was right.
And then they went to another doctor and the doctor
confirmed that, and he was right. And so I think
that's where a lot of those deep seated issues come
from between a franchise and a star player, where the
franchise wants the guy on the court because they're looking
at the immediate term, and the players looking at his
long term future as he should be. But now, excuse me,

(50:18):
Joel Embiid made a bunch of comments in that piece
to the author alluding to the fact that he still
does not trust the front office. I mean, I'll read
one right now. When they were talking about the Knick
series and whether he was going to play or not play,
and there was a lot of obviously his knee was
worse than anyone even thought, so there's a lot of
concern about that. Joel Embiid says, in those situations, you

(50:41):
wish some of the people upstairs kind of had your back,
and we're like this is not okay, you're not playing.
That is a direct shot at Daryl Morey's front office.
It just is so those trust issues still exists. They've
been reported too that that Embiid doesn't want to rush
back from injury and Sixers camp wants him to rush
back from injury because of course they need him on
the floor. So where do they go as a franchise?

(51:02):
I think that's just like will always exist with them
Bee will have trust issues and whole push back on that.
But where do they go as a partnership relationship if
these guys can't trust each other.

Speaker 2 (51:12):
Yeah, and then you had to you had to leak
too that came out, which you know, people seem to
believe that they have the player that is still here
that just resigned. If I'm not mistaken in Gordon, is
that the alleged.

Speaker 5 (51:22):
Well, that was a little weird, Like there was a
lot told me I will say that.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
That's interesting and he's back and it's like wait a minute,
So again I don't want to bring.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
I would I would just say on that there's a
lot of people that could have leaked that to an
agent or to someone who then went to the media
that doesn't.

Speaker 5 (51:42):
Mean like how many, like like how many who else
could have.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
All of them? Maybe they tell the maybe they tell
the brother, Maybe they tell Rich Paul that Tyres Maaxi
gets Rich Paul on the phone, Yo, we just had
this meeting. Rich Paul leaks it to to Shaan's. There's
a lot of people that could have unintentionally leaked that.
When a player goes through someone else and that player
or that person goes that doesn't mean Yo, you know

(52:06):
what happened in this team meeting. We had a we
had quick time. There's no way anyone unintentionally leaked that.
For the record, here there's direct quotes from that meeting.
Whoever did leak that, it was certainly very well. When
when Shams gets wind of it, he starts he does digging.
But there's a scenario where Tyre I'm not saying Tyre's
Maxey anyone. They go to their agents and they're like, yeah,

(52:26):
we just had this team meeting. It was crazy like
this this happened. They someone tells Shams that, then Seams
starts does some digging. Maybe he talks to Eric Gordon,
maybe talks to this player. Oh, what was actually said
that these players that he's close with he starts calling.
But that's how it works. I don't know if Eric
Gordon's like, yo, Chams, here, here's what this person said,
this meaning, here's what happened. You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (52:45):
Well, I do know this much. This is out there now.

Speaker 3 (52:48):
I know everyone thinks Eric Gordon, it's everything that every
it's been Eric Gordon.

Speaker 4 (52:51):
But I was saying, and Eric go his defense here,
I'll read it word for word that he tweeted out says, well,
I'll edit a little. Don't don't dude talking stupid blank,
I'm going on year eighteen. That ain't my wrap, ain't
my rep. Get your facts straight. That's not exactly what
I didn't Liak the meeting is how I perceive that statement.

Speaker 5 (53:12):
I ain't my rep.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
Okay, you know I'm subscribing to more sand than anything.
Not to say that you're wrong, Sean, but I I
just like, Okay, I saw it on the timeline. People
were like it was Eric Gordon, all right, Like why
how was it not Paul George? How was it not
any other player? I don't know.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
Again, he did and did allude to the fact in
the piece that the player is probably still on the
team when he was really being wishy washing about it,
and it was kind of classic and beat. He might
have even been trolled.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
George was automatically on the team and he could still
is that what you're you're making where Gordon was a
free agent, could have resigned elsewhere, but did or you
know again, I don't want to get too bogged now.

Speaker 3 (53:54):
With oh yeah, he did say that. He did say
that in the piece. That's a good point where he
was like, is about a start? So I don't those
on the team correct?

Speaker 4 (54:02):
So I guess if we want to go process of
elimination here, like run down the list of who has anything,
and we don't got to do the full exercise, but like,
why in the world would Paul George leak that? What
in what in what world does that make him better?
By any case, Let's just let's just put let's just
say I really.

Speaker 3 (54:17):
Believe that that a lot of these times, these unintentional
leaks happen where they tell their agents or they tell
someone close to them in their circle, and that person
snitches and then quote you.

Speaker 5 (54:26):
Don't get direct quotes from unintentionally.

Speaker 3 (54:28):
But then Seams does digging and then he calls Eric Gordon,
and he's like, oh, Eric Gordon, I have this story already,
what was said, that's still rat Here's the problem with
this conversation. Here's always been the problem with this conversation.
And this is why people say and beat us accountability.
You can't be upset at the leak. Be upset what
you got called out for, which was showing up late consistently.

(54:49):
That's that's the crux of the issue. You were consistently late,
and you'd be called out for being a bad teammate
and a bad leader. That's the problem.

Speaker 4 (54:56):
The only thing I'll push back on here is how
many of these team meetings inside the locker rooms happen
across every team that we never hear about here, Like
that is a pretty commonplace that these meetings happen. Not
made me to the extent of a guy being late,
although I'm sure that happens way more than we're aware
of here. But like I you're right, the point still
stands that, Like that's the point of the meeting, and

(55:16):
there is some truth to like the fact that Joelle's
more focused on who said it than the actual message
is a bit of a concern there. And you can
throw that in his face. But I still agree with
him that that can't get out like that just can't
get out. And they were direct quotes. Once again, whoever
did leak that it was intentional, it was strategic, and
it was direct.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
No doubt. And I would think some along the lines
of like when you have a situation like that, that
that's gonna get out there purpose with purpose, right, Like
this is Joelle and b being called up by Tyrese Maxi,
who was an All star. This is a big damn deal,
and somebody was like, you know, let's get that out
there again. I think the message you said that word
the message to me moving forward. Now. We got a

(55:54):
lot of comments, we'll get them in here. But the
message now is about how did the Sixers go from here?
And I think they did their best by removing a
lot of people that whether they were involved with the
leak or everything that took place last year, they have
gotten rid of a lot of people in the PR
We've talked about that a lot in the last few weeks,
and clearly Jewel Embiid, as you pointed out, Sam does

(56:16):
not have confidence in this front office. There are some
issues going on. So now more than ever that if
they want to do Jewel Embiid right, Joel and Weed
wants to do the Sixers right. I think both parties
here step up and now there's a future in front
of you. Now come inside and start building that trusted.
I know it's late late to the party here. He's

(56:37):
been playing with the seventy sixter forever, but he's not
going anywhere. And that's really important right now that they
handled this the right way, and I think that that
needs to happen asap.

Speaker 3 (56:49):
I just want to say, I mean, look, none of
it matters unless Joel Embiid is actually on the court unhealthy,
and there's no reason to believe he will.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
No. I disagree, because he's he is still considered a
franchise court. He is still the guy he is.

Speaker 5 (57:02):
Dude.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
They want to put his jersey up, His jersey's going
to the raptors. They want to build a statue of him,
did duel Embiid?

Speaker 3 (57:08):
They want him to statue of Joel Embiid.

Speaker 2 (57:11):
Oh, I'll take that right now, right now, statue absolutely
outside the outside the practice facility.

Speaker 3 (57:20):
At least Iverson. At least Iverson he has the one
m v P. But at least he brought the one
on an electric finals run.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
Oh, come on outside of the practice facility, no adlands,
what's about it? I don't know.

Speaker 3 (57:34):
I don't know about that he's better than I, yeah,
for sure, but but it's it's not really about who's better.

Speaker 2 (57:39):
It's again and we're we're talking about this in the
man or that he's done right, which sucks.

Speaker 5 (57:44):
Not he's not.

Speaker 3 (57:47):
I actually wanted to go back because because Mark Henry's
here in the comments. Yeah, I got marks in sinuating
that I'm a Joel Embiid hater, But I'm not. I'm
not at all. What I've said from the start is
that is that I actually disagree with the narratives that
he's soft and lazy and all those things. I actually
want to defend his playoff performances because there's there's this

(58:07):
idea out there this guy has been like.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
Your boy Jaren put twenty nine and thirty playoff record
is very unique of Embiid, which is it's a hater.
His statement, Yes, he's lost him.

Speaker 5 (58:17):
Too, he's correct on the numbers that he's lost.

Speaker 3 (58:21):
He's I mean, he's never been about the second round.
He's lost all those scond round series. So and he's
lost the first round series. Of course, the record is
going to be around five hundred. That checks out. But
I'm talking about the individual performance in the playoffs. I
actually want to defend because I think he just gets
way too much of a bad rap forest playout performances,
and he was awesome against the Knick series, and most
of it I thought as a rim protector he had

(58:42):
no jump and the Knicks were attacking him with the rims,
something I've talked about a lot, but that was because
of his injury and that knee he couldn't get off
the ground as a rim protector. There's two series, and
I'd be interested in hearing your take on this, Pernord,
but there's two series to me that were just inexcusable
losses from the sixers in the Embid era. One of
them is the Hawks, of course, but you go back
and look at those Hawks numbers and I have them

(59:04):
up here. In that twenty twenty one year, Embiid averaged
thirty twelve point seven three point nine assists and two
blocks in that series. So Embiid was pretty awesome in
that Hawk series. That to me was a Ben Simmons
series where they blew that three to two lead and
they never show. Lost in twenty twenty one to the Hawks,
but that was a more of a Ben Simmons thing.
The other one is the Celtics series in twenty twenty

(59:28):
three when they were up three to two, and that
one I will pin on Embiid because Harden deserves blame too,
But in Bebiad's supposed to be a franchise cornerstone, He's
the centerpiece. In that fourth quarter of Game six, when
you're up three to two, he completely fell apart, basically
got no touches in the last four minutes, and that's
on him. Nicole jokicch would never go the last four
minutes of a game without demanding the ball and getting

(59:48):
touches and making stuff happen. So that to me was
on Embiid, And the Game seven, he had like fifteen points,
was a complete no show. Celtics blow them out. That
was the only playoff series where it was inexcusable to
the Sixers loss. But it was inexcusable Sixers lost because
of Joel empat. Other than that, he's been pretty good
in the playoffs. He's maybe he hasn't been the MVP
level that he wanted to beat. But I don't think

(01:00:09):
the Sixers have ever really lost.

Speaker 2 (01:00:11):
He's always had something happening too right, And there's also
which always is the underlying context for face. It's the
the wrist, it's the thumb, it's the knee, it's the
bell's palsy. It was always something with him. So again
I agree with you on that one, Sam Sean, I
don't know if you want to add.

Speaker 5 (01:00:29):
Yeah, no, I think that's fair.

Speaker 4 (01:00:30):
The Celtics one, I do think is pretty indefensefull there,
and that's like that specific the game six and seven
is the most I've ever been disappointed in Joell Embiid
like that that moment there, and I will say the
Hawks series, they're all numbers look good. I think Ben
Simmons covered up, at least for me personally, My memory
and feeling at the time is I was quite upset
with Joel as well that I think the Ben's stuff
took the headlines. I do think that he could have

(01:00:52):
done more in that series. But outside of that, I
do agree with your overall point that, like, I think
the playmaking has gone up a notch in the playoffs
when he's double and triple team has. He've certainly grown
throughout his career and being effective and picking those apart.
He's had some bigger moments than people want to give
him credit when we're talking about the game winner against
the Raptors, being the best player on the floor in
that next series despite all the injuries and all those
kind of conversations. So I do think the conversations are

(01:01:14):
largely overblown, but there are certainly ones that I can't
fully defense.

Speaker 3 (01:01:16):
Yeah, Mark, it's like and people always make excuses like
he's always injured in that series, injured in that series.
That's part of his existence in his career. So the
injuries to me, and it's admirable that he plays through them,
because I don't think he's solved at all. He's a warrior.
He plays through injuries, but it's still part of his
existence in his career. So I don't use these injuries
as an excuse in the playoffs because then every single

(01:01:37):
playoff is just, oh, he was injured, because he's always
been injured in every postseason.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
All Right, we gotta wrap this up. Spirited discussion. Great
job across the board by Sham Bannard and Sam Austrey
Here on a Thursday, one quick one because Mark did
point out that the duel contract discussion is overblown. If
you're going to kill Darryl, kill him for PG, no
doubt about it. One hundred percent agree with you on
that one. No team in the NBA wouldn't have paid
Jowell if they had him in the same situation starts
paid a SAP. I agree with that. It doesn't make

(01:02:02):
it right. Though, doesn't make it right, that's the point
of it. And I'm at hand in the air as
a general manager. If I was in Daryl Morey's shoes, yes,
hands were probably tied. Number One had to give him
the contract due to the ownership. But at the same time,
I'm probably giving him that contract as well. But these
are the difficult decisions that we look back on ten
years from now that we're gonna go, man, what was

(01:02:23):
he thinking? And whether it's revisionist history or not, it's
just the reality of the situation, which is unfortunate. But again,
I'm pouring dirt on Joel Embiid and I don't think
that's right. I don't think that's right, even though I
do feel it in my heart, and that's unfortunate.

Speaker 3 (01:02:38):
That does it seems like everyone thinks that he's gonna
get a statue. Sure, I guess give him a statue.
He doesn't deserve a statue in my mind. If his
career ends right.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
Now, he entertainment, it's about statue whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:02:53):
He doesn't deserve a statue.

Speaker 5 (01:02:55):
A statue out there that people that don't quite deserve.

Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
Absolutely, but that that's point from the organization.

Speaker 3 (01:03:01):
Like when I look at stature, I'm like Dwayne Wade
with the heat. That's like Kobe with LA which is
obviously something of itself, like like the whiskey with the mask.
Those guys shot the Lakers. Those guys deserve statues for
what they did, what they accomplished with their franchise.

Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
Yeah, no doubt about it.

Speaker 3 (01:03:17):
I don't know if Charles Barkley deserved one. I mean
not not with a six Ers tenure, I would say,
but that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Was definitely different.

Speaker 3 (01:03:23):
Just because someone has a statute doesn't mean they necessarily
deserve one. So he might get one, doesn't mean he
deserves one.

Speaker 2 (01:03:28):
All right, let's close up shop on the SP's what
do you say that kid? Great job, awesome, great. I
thought it was good that they could have been one.

Speaker 3 (01:03:39):
I think the crowd was awful, but I thought he
was great.

Speaker 2 (01:03:41):
That the jokes could have been Honestly, I think I
could write those jokes.

Speaker 3 (01:03:47):
They weren't like as creative as he usually is, But
you can't do a lot of storytelling in that setting.
It's like, oh, here's someone, let me just make fun
of them. I mean, some are more creative than others wnba.
One was pretty creative.

Speaker 2 (01:03:57):
That was good. You're right, you know, like to joke,
to take a shot. I didn't say like, yeah, you
guys don't know. I thought it was funny.

Speaker 3 (01:04:03):
One was very uncreative, Yeah he was.

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
He was bumbling a little bit too. I didn't think
he was the smoothest. I will just say that. I
was like, I know, that's his style, you know, but like,
you know, I thought the flow could have been better.
Just one man's take here. And I'm a big Shane
Gillis fan, love tires, always support all that. But you know,
we're being honest with it, and then let's just be

(01:04:26):
honest about the whole deal. The fact is we're talking
about the Spies. Yeah, I love the starts. Yeah, Jesus,
the biggest stadium goes to the Rose Bowl and passed it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:37):
It was an ego centric shows. It was it was
Skitani in the mix. But I always loved the Jimmy
ve Award. Wasn't someone that I usually that I know,
and that usually makes it better.

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
I'm still trying to figure out who the blonde was
at the end. Who was the blonde? Good grief, she
was a presenter, she gave way the a Vekan Award.
I still no idea who that was.

Speaker 3 (01:05:01):
Oh my god, Oh, I know you're talking about Yeah,
I know you're talking about you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:05:04):
We're all talking about sending me clips. I'm like, who's
the blood? That's all I care about. All Right, we
got a run. Great job. Man. Can't thank you everybody enough.

Speaker 3 (01:05:12):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
Mark Henry Junior could be heard every Saturday morning from
eleven to one right here on the Gambler. I'm sure
he's gonna dig this conversation back up. I hope he does,
because it's great conversation and it's unfortunate that, you know,
in the back of my mind, I feel like I
am poorn dirt on the great player that is Joelle Embiid.
But we'll see. I would love to be wrong. I
want to be wrong. I'm dying to be wrong, but
we'll see. That's all we could say at this point

(01:05:35):
in time. For Shamnhard, Sam Austriy, I'm Sean Brace. Keep
locked right here to the Gambler. We'll talk to you
if you can wager on it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
We're talking about it. It's the Gambler. Alexa play Fox
Sports Radio The Gambler on iHeartRadio. Immediate Win every time
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