Sixers star Joel Embiid says he needs to play to crowd more to dominate

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid believes he needs to start having more fun for them to dominate.

Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid has vowed to be more serious in the past and cool it with the trash talking. It has led to a more serious Embiid as he tries to lead his team to a championship in 2019-20, but after scoring 22 points and 10 rebounds in a win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, he says he needs to start having fun more.

There was a play in the third quarter where he flipped the ball over his head and finished while drawing the foul and he then shimmied to the crowd after it the play was made. It’s something that he says he needs to do more often.

“I haven’t done it enough all season,” said the big man. “I have not been having fun, just mainly because I’m trying to figure out how to make it work and stuff. It goes back to me being mature and one of the biggest parts of my game is just having fun and by having fun is talking trash, but that part has kind of been cut. I just need to be myself and do whatever I want, because when I’m having fun, I dominate.”

Embiid added that ever since his brawl with Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns, he felt like he needed to be better in the maturity aspect of his game.

“Everybody has been talking,” the star added. “I’m not trying to be a distraction to the team. The fight happened and we had good momentum and from there we kind of lost it and lost a couple games. I’m not trying to be a distraction, but that’s just part of my game and I feel like me losing that part has taken a toll on my game. Sometimes I might be childish, but I care about winning. Everybody knows that. I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

For the Sixers to go anywhere near their championship goals in 2019-20, they will need Embiid to be the guy who leads them there. He is this team’s best player and if he feels like he needs to talk some trash and shimmy after a bucket, then so be it.

“I care about my teammates, I care about the organization, I care about being a role model,” he finished with. “Everybody told me I need to be, from fans and everybody else, I need to be mature so I’m doing it. I don’t think it’s working, but I’m going to keep doing it.”

The Sixers head to Beantown to face the Boston Celtics on Thursday. [lawrence-related id=21042,21027,21013]