"Joel Embiid was singing 'Let Freedom Ring' as he was giving Enes Freedom that 41 special" - Kendrick Perkins has no mercy for Freedom's dismal outing against Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid let Enes Kanter Freedom and the Boston Celtics have it on Monday night. Embiid dropped 41 points as the 76ers picked up a terrific road victory at TD Garden and moved into sixth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Embiid also had 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocked shots on the night. His efforts helped the Philadelphia 76ers rally from a 90-97 deficit with less than four minutes to play to win 108-103.
With the Celtics' Robert Williams missing the game due to personal reasons, Enes Kanter Freedom made his first start for Boston this season. However, Freedom could do little against a rampaging Embiid, who went 14-of-27 (51.9%) from the field and made 12-of-14 of his free throws.
Embiid also scored the last nine points for the Philadelphia 76ers as he helped his team close out the game in their favor against the Boston Celtics.
Joel Embiid had 40 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks in a game for the 3rd time in his career. Only player with more such games since blocks became official in 1973-74? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 4. https://t.co/RxfccV8LWw
Kendrick Perkins fires salvo at Enes Freedom for poor show against Joel Embiid
Following the game, former NBA player and current league analyst Kendrick Perkins took to Twitter to take a dig at Enes Freedom. Freedom has been making a lot of headlines with his political views on social media.
Commenting on his inability to stop the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid from coming up with such a dominant performance, Perkins wrote:
"Joel Embiid was singing let freedom ring as he was giving Enes Freedom that 41 special in Boston tonight! God bless America…"
Joel Embiid was singing let freedom ring as he was giving Enes Freedom that 41 special in Boston tonight! God bless America…
Kendrick Perkins' jibe at Enes Freedom doesn't only come in the context of the Boston Celtics player's inability to stop Embiid in the contest versus the Philadelphia 76ers. There is also some level of possible discontent with Enes Freedom's political views around the NBA.
Nobody has denied that Freedom has asked the right questions about China's authoritarian regime. However, there is some concern about the manner in which he broaches topics about human rights and voices support for other socially relevant matters.
That this is done mostly through Freedom's social media accounts, rather than any in-person interactions with the people concerned, has perhaps rubbed some people the wrong way.
Just last month, LeBron James said that Enes Freedom wasn't someone he was going to worry too much about. LeBron, who has been consistently targeted by Enes Freedom in the last few months, said that:
"He’s definitely not someone I would give my energy to, you know, trying to use my name to create an opportunity for himself. Definitely won’t comment too much on that… He’s always kind of had a word or two to say in my direction."
But coming back to Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers big man really enjoyed his MVP-level performance against the Boston Celtics. Embiid took to his Instagram account to share the joy of coming up with a superlative game at TD Garden after his 41-10-5-4 (points-rebounds-assists-blocks) night.
Joel Embiid posted:
"TD GARDEN, Always a pleasure!!! #PHILA"
Also Read: What is Joel Embiid’s Current Contract?