Joel Embiid is one of the most brutally honest players in the NBA today. And that often makes for some hilarious moments for NBA fans. Embiid, who is one of the best big men in the NBA today, doesn’t worry too much about trying to be safe, and says exactly what he’s thinking, even if it could hurt someone’s feelings.
His 76ers’ teammate Tyrese Maxey found out about this after their game against the Toronto Raptors. During the post-game press conference, Embiid was blunt with Maxey, saying that he was terrible against the Raptors. Maxey seemed to take it well, even agreeing that he shot 2 airballs during the game.
Embiid: “You were trash… You were terrible.”
Maxey: “I airballed twice.”
Clearly, Maxey didn’t feel any type of way about Embiid’s comments and took it as nothing more than the veteran superstar of the team being blunt with him in order for him to be able to improve. Perhaps Maxey can take this criticism and turn it around when he and the 76ers play their next game tonight against the Brooklyn Nets.
Maxey has seen an increase in playing time thanks to the continued absence of Ben Simmons, who has been away from the team since the start of the season. There is no word on when, or even if, Simmons will return to the squad. So Maxey can expect to continually get some more minutes going forward.
Maxey was a sleeper pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and has shown flashes of brilliance. While he may be struggling at the moment, there is no doubt that this increase in minutes will serve to his benefit, as he will get the chance to play with and against a lot of great NBA players, so he can continue adding to his offensive and defensive repertoire and learn to be a better player.
