Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiis is one of the more elite players in the game today. The 7-foot big man is one of the top players in the league regardless of position and it is easy to see why he is considered one of the best.
Embiid is leading the league in scoring at 29.6 points and 11.2 rebounds along with averaging a career-high 4.5 assists. The big man is having himself another MVP-caliber season as he has thrown the Sixers on his back and put them in a position to earn home-court advantage in the playoffs despite the recent Ben Simmons saga.
Former NBA center turned ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins had some high praise for Sixers big man Joel Embiid on Friday’s edition of “NBA Today”:
“[Joel Embiid’s] the best player in the game of basketball. … If Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Durant had a baby guess what, it would be Joel Embiid that came out."
—@KendrickPerkins pic.twitter.com/VExk9vlExD
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 18, 2022
Carry the (expletive) on, as Perk would say!
The 2008 NBA champion has built himself quite a personality, on both television and Twitter. Perkins’ most recent addition to his public profile is giving inside information about the league on television. In relatively recent weeks, he was the first person to deliver the public message that James Harden wanted to join the Sixers.
While Perk is known to provide the occasional laugh with the deliveries of his takes, there have been a number of examples of his being correct in retrospect.
It’s difficult to say he’s right or wrong in opining that Embiid is the best player in the NBA. But, his explanation that Embiid is the joining of Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Durant provokes fascination.
Embiid has proven that he’s unafraid of dabbling in new moves, most recently attempting a pair of James Harden-Esque step-back jumpers just a few days after the video surfaced of him watching his new teammate perform the space-creating trick in practice.
But he pays homage to more than just a select few legends. Embiid will show flashes of Michael Jordan in his footwork, Dirk Nowitzki in his fade-aways, Shaquille O’Neal in his power at the rim, along with Olajuwon and Durant. As he’s embraced bringing the ball up the floor this season, Embiid even recently pulled out a Chris Paul trick, faking a pass while maintaining his dribble in transition before finishing a layup through contact.
Studying those greats has certainly played to Embiid’s advantage over the last few seasons. After missing out on the MVP award in 2021 due to an availability deficit, Embiid has responded by playing 46 of Philadelphia’s 58 games this season.
Beyond that, Embiid is shooting better than 52% on 2s and nearly 37% on threes. Perhaps most impressive of all is his true shooting percentage, which indicates how efficient of a scorer he is by accounting for free throws. Embiid’s true shooting percentage sits at 61, while the league average is 56 this season.
Beyond the scoring efficiency, Embiid is enjoying career-best assist and turnover percentages, so his playmaking has made significant strides.
On the other end of the court, Embiid is in the top 30 percentile of NBA bigs in block, steal, foul, and defensive rebounding percentages.
Now if he can maintain that dominance in the Sixers’ final 24 games of the season, Embiid will have to worry about finding a suit to wear to his MVP ceremony.
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