Philadelphia 76ers superstar big man Joel Embiid had one of the best nights of his basketball life when he scored a career-high 49 points in a 129-112 win over the Atlanta Hawks at home. This is supposed to be a big moment for him, but at the same time, it isn’t.
The Sixers were supposed to beat up on the Hawks at home. They are one of the worst teams in the league and they have nobody to really hang with Embiid for 48 minutes. While the performance is certainly impressive, it does get washed away a bit when considering it was against the Hawks at home.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who always seems to have an opinion on the Sixers was not impressed by the big man at all. Smith said:
What’s the big deal about Joel Embiid’s 49 points? They were against the Atlanta Hawks. What do you want to say? They’re 17-42. They have Trae Young, a guy in De’Andre Hunter who I think has potential, they have a couple of guys or whatever, but they have a long ways to go. Atlanta’s not a good team…so Joel Embiid showing up against them in Philly on his home court means absolutely, positively, nothing to me outside of the fact that it was nice that he played and he looked healthy and he was having fun. That’s really when he’s at his best.
Embiid did make another controversial statement after the game with a NSFW comment that he believes he is the best player in the world, but after a very poor performance against the Milwaukee Bucks plus the dominant game against a poor Hawks team puts that statement in doubt.
Smith continued:
I didn’t see that Joel Embiid when he was going up against the Greek Freak in Milwaukee the other night. I didn’t see that Joel Embiid a few times over the last month or so.
Embiid has had big performances against big teams this season including against the Bucks on Christmas Day at home and he had a big night against the Boston Celtics on the road in December as well. He just has to channel all of this on a nightly basis. It can’t just be a once in a while type of performance for them.
The Sixers have been one of the worst road teams in the league and Embiid will have an opportunity to lead the team to a road win on Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. [lawrence-related id=26473,26466,26459]