Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is one of the top players in the league, but he also has a bad playoff reputation as he has yet to get past Round 2 in his career. That’s due to a number of reasons–injuries being the main one–but it’s an unfortunate tag he has been given.
Embiid once again labored through an injury in the 2024 playoffs and it hurt the Sixers in their Round 1 loss to the New York Knicks. Playing with a meniscus injury in his left knee and through Bell’s Palsy, Embiid was still dominant as he averaged 33.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists, but he seemed to run out of gas in the fourth quarters of games.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson hopped on with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks and defended Embiid from criticism while showing him love:
Joel is unfairly discussed. He is the one player where I played against him, I’m like ‘Damn. This dude is dominant.’ When I first played him in Dallas, he just controlled the entire game from the center position. I haven’t seen that in person so I’m just like–he controlled the game. He controlled the pace of the game. He just controlled it. Me seeing now ‘Oh, Joel hasn’t got past the second round or Joel hasn’t done this.’ Joel has done some crazy things. MVP, the numbers he puts up, all that stuff. He’s done crazy things.
Embiid and the Sixers will look to once again make another run at a title in the 2024-25 season. President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has a ton of cap space and it is his responsibility now to make sure he gets Embiid and Tyrese Maxey the help they need to get it done in the Eastern Conference.
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