"He should take it as disrespectful": Shaquille O'Neal sends alarming message to Joel Embiid
Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid is having another MVP-caliber season. However, due to his past playoff shortcomings, many are reluctant to heap too much praise on him until they see his 2024 playoff performance. That includes NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, who recently sent the reigning MVP a “disrespectful” motivational message.
Over his eight-year career, Embiid has failed to lead Philly past the second round of the playoffs despite facing title expectations the last few years. Additionally, he experienced a steep drop-off in offensive production over his last two playoff runs.
In the 2021-22 season, Embiid averaged 30.6 points per game over 68 games. However, he followed that up by averaging just 23.6 ppg over 10 2022 playoff games. Likewise, he averaged 33.1 ppg over 66 games last season but just 23.7 ppg over nine playoff games.
During a recent episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” O’Neal compared Embiid’s situation to his early years in the NBA. According to the big man, he was thriving with the LA Lakers, but franchise legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dismissed him due to his lack of titles.
So, O’Neal offered a similar motivational message to Embiid as many take a wait-and-see approach with the six-time All-Star.
“I’mma give it to him like Kareem gave it to me, and he should take it as disrespectful because that’s how I took it,” O’Neal said.
“I was averaging big numbers with LA, but we kept getting swept like, ‘Okay Shaq, you’re doing that in the regular season, what about in the playoffs?’ They asked 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.
“Like, we know what you can do, but can you do it at the big dance? Can you get the phone number at the big dance, and can you take it home and close the deal?”
O’Neal added that Embiid is “the best big man when it comes to numbers.” However, he said until he performs at “the big dance” like Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic, he shouldn’t be considered the NBA’s best center.
Through 27 games, Joel Embiid is averaging a career-best 34.6 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 6.0 apg, 1.1 spg, 2.0 bpg and 1.1 3pg on 53.5% shooting. It remains to be seen whether he can replicate those numbers in this year’s playoffs.
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Paul George compares Joel Embiid to Shaquille O’Neal
Joel Embiid may not have won a championship. However, LA Clippers star wing Paul George still views the Sixers superstar as this generation’s Shaquille O’Neal.
During a recent episode of “Podcast P with Paul George,” George raved about Embiid’s O’Neal-like dominance.
"You can't stop him,” George said. “He's too big, he's agile, he can shoot, he can step out from the 3-point line. He’s just a big body. He's our generation and our version of Shaq. There’s nobody we can put on Shaq. Bro, there’s nobody you can put on Joel.”
O’Neal won four championships over 19 seasons, while Embiid has zero over eight seasons. So, despite his dominance, most would probably agree that Embiid has a long way to go before reaching O’Neal’s status.
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