Joel Embiid is averaging 30 points per game this season and is in with a shot at the scoring title if he can end the year on a hot streak. Embiid has been unstoppable for most of the year, putting his name firmly in the MVP competition although a lot of that talk has simmered down following some poor results for the Sixers despite acquiring James Harden.
Embiid has received some criticism this season too, not everyone seems to like the way he goes about getting the absurd numbers that he managed to achieve. Joel averages over 10 free throw attempts a game, making 9.2 per game. This has seen many call him out for flailing and foul-baiting, generally discrediting Embiid’s offensive dominance.
Based on his comments on JJ Redick’s Old Man and The Three podcast though, it seems Embiid isn’t too worried about what people think of his style of play on offense, saying that all he does is play smarter than the other players in the league. His rivalries, including one with Kevin Durant, are easier to understand when one takes a look at the way Embiid thinks on the court.
JJ Redick: (Showing a video of Embiid drawing a foul) “This play is an excellent example of what I like to call foul-baiting.”
Joel Embiid: “That’s not foul-baiting. This is basketball IQ. I’m in the penalty and right before that play, I knew that they had a couple of fouls. And it’s easy, this is basketball IQ.
“So people are always saying like flops and foul baiting so… That’s just me being smarter than everybody else. Like, if we in the penalty, you know what I’m about to do, you know what Chris Paul’s about to do. Like, we just smarter than everybody else. That’s just the rules of the game and we take advantage of that. That’s not my fault… that’s not anybody’s fault.”
Embiid is one of the best in the league at drawing contact and while it can be frustrating to watch, it’s a part of his game that makes him so hard to stop. Situations like this aren’t fun for the fans though, so it might not be the best idea, but until the situation changes with the level of refereeing, clever operators like Embiid will always do everything in their power to help their team win.
