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It’s not a stretch to say that the Philadelphia 76ers’ championship hopes still rest on the broad shoulders of Joel Embiid even after bringing in LeBron James and Jaylen Brown over the offseason. It’s not just that Embiid was arguably the best player in the NBA as recently as Jan. 2024, but also that Philly just doesn’t have much center depth behind him, particularly after backup Ariel Hukporti already suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in the preseason.
LeBron made his Sixers debut in the team’s second preseason game on Thursday night, but Embiid stole the show in the worst way possible. With the caveat that it’s only preseason … Embiid looked absolutely atrocious during his 24 minutes on the floor, and it already feels like a legitimate concern for the 76ers.
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Embiid shot 1-of-5 from the floor and finished with eight turnovers in 24 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets. Those numbers don’t even capture how viscerally washed he looked. Embiid already had a few terrible plays early in the game, but he went mega-viral for this pathetic fastbreak attempt midway through the second quarter. Embiid was thrown a perfect alley-oop, but he didn’t jump for it, and then missed the easy layup. Watch the play all of NBA Twitter was talking about here:
Is Joel Embiid physically capable of jumping? I’m not sure after watching this clip. Seems important for a basketball player, even if you’re over 7-feet tall like Embiid.
Embiid was bad from the very start of the game, airballing a fadeaway on his first touch. He was making some incredibly sloppy decisions with the ball as Nets defenders crashed down on him in the paint, and just looked like he wasn’t locked in at all on either side of the floor. Maybe there’s nothing Embiid could have done about his physical downfall in the last couple years since his peak, but it almost feels more concerning that he’s making so many mental mistakes. This is not what you want out of the seventh highest paid player in the NBA at a tick below $58 million this season.
The Sixers are pretty deep elsewhere on the roster after a quality offseason that saw them sign Dean Wade, Anfernee…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/joel-embiid-preseason-disaster-raises-151036114.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-09 15:10:00
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