Not the one to shy away from expressing his thoughts, Joel Embiid had a blunt reply about how the people and media perceive him.
In an exclusive sitdown with The Athletic’s Shams Charania, he spoke about the world’s perception of him. “People always thought that I was crazy when I said this — I really believe that I’m not well-liked,” he said. “And it’s cool with me, that’s fine. I’ll be the bad guy. I like being the a–hole anyway. I like being the underdog. So that’s fine with me.”
Embiid further added that he wanted people to look at him as an unstoppable force. “My thing is, when I leave the game of basketball, I want to make sure that people looked at me as … it’s hard to be the greatest ever because you’ve got to win a bunch of championships, and not everyone is lucky to do it because only one team can win and you have to have the right pieces around you … but when I leave the game, I want to make sure that they say: No one was stopping him offensively and defensively, and he was a monster.”
Monster is pretty much an apt fit. The center has been on a tear for the Philadelphia 76ers this season, averaging 33.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists — numbers that have propelled the Sixers to the playoffs while also offering strong hope that they are bonafide title contenders.
Embiid is often known to be an in-your-face personality, but his comments also show that he cares about winning, and he cares deeply. Only time will tell if he can take Philadelphia to their first win since 1983.
The MVP Race Isn’t Joel Embiid’s Area Of Focus
Earlier this season, Embiid was pretty candid when he said he didn’t care about the MVP conversation. Nor did he entertain the question of who his pick was. His focus was on leading the Sixers to an NBA championship, and he reiterated it again.
“It’s all about the playoffs,” Embiid said, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Being in the MVP race, I told you, I don’t care. If I win, good. If I don’t, it’s whatever. That’s not where my focus is…If my focus was on [the MVP], I could have run up the stats against Chicago and could have gone for a triple-double or kept the 30-point streak or whatever. But I don’t care because, you know, truth be told, we were up 30 [points]. I wasn’t needed anyways. But to be the MVP, you also have to have great stats. I just don’t care.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise if the big man indeed ends up winning MVP, pipping another favorite, Nikola Jokic. But he does have his objective and priority set, so Embiid will surely channel his energies on winning the title over an award.
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