Former NBA big man Charles Oakley has never been accused of mincing words and he went off on Joel Embiid during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s “The Starting Lineup” show.
“Everybody says he’s hurt,” Oakley said. “If you’re hurt, stay home and watch it on TV like everybody else is doing. I don’t want hear this, ‘I’m giving it my all.’ You’re a seven-footer shooting 3s. I mean, you stand out around the 3-point line what the guards gonna do? So I think that, you know, they cry too much. All these guys in the league cry too much.
“He’s too big to be crying. I’m sorry I said about two years ago, he could be the next Wilt Chamberlain. I don’t know,” Oakley continued. “He could be the next Dunkin Donut or somebody because he just cry.”
That was brutal from Oakley but considering his ties to the New York Knicks, I am not too surprised. Embiid has become public enemy No. 1 for everyone associated with the Knicks during this first-round series with the Philadelphia 76ers.
He has made one too many plays that have been viewed as dirty and Embiid’s cheap shot highlights from this series have gone viral. As always, the 30-year-old has also been accused of flopping, and in all, just has not endeared himself to New Yorkers, to say the least.
As for Oakley believing at one point that Embiid could be the next Wilt Chamberlain, I think that was a bit much. I think everyone knew that he could turn out to be a special player if he could stay healthy, but I am not sure Embiid was ever going to be mentioned in the same breath as someone like Chamberlain.
I agree with Oakley that some of the complaining from the players today can get a bit much, but I do applaud Embiid for playing through injury. The seven-time All-Star could have just sat out but he wants to be out there for his team and deserves some respect for that.
In Game 5, Embiid had a rough shooting night and 9 turnovers but still made an impact. He recorded a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, and 4 blocks, as the 76ers won 112-106 in overtime to stave off elimination.
It wasn’t pretty by any means, but the series now stands at 3-2 and Game 6 is in Philadelphia. If the 76ers are to pull off this comeback after going down 3-1, they’ll need Embiid to be somewhere close to his best, but I think he looks a bit too beat up at this point.
Charles Oakley Claims He Would Have Smacked Joel Embiid After He Grabbed Mitchell Robinson’s Ankle
Of all of the questionable plays from Embiid in this series, the one that really stands out is when he grabbed Mitchell Robinson’s ankle in Game 3. The Knicks big man had gone up for a layup when it happened and could have gotten seriously injured. Oakley stated he would have smacked Embiid for that suspicious play on Robinson.
I have no doubt that Oakley would have done that as well. He was very protective of his teammates and didn’t shy away from swinging at someone. For his part, Embiid stated that he was protecting himself by grabbing Robinson’s leg. Unfortunately for him, not many outside of Philadelphia were buying that.
Related: Joel Embiid On Playing In New York: “My Favorite City In The World”
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