Joel Embiid and LeBron James starred in a very controversial play when the Lakers and Sixers went at it. It was a tight win for the Eastern Conference leaders but JoJo suffered more than necessary to get the victory.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar committed a flagrant foul on the Cameroonian big player, which didn’t sit well with the younger player. After the game was over, Embiid had strong words to say about the play, claiming he would have been ejected if he made that foul to Bron.
“I guarantee you that if it was me, I would have probably been ejected from the game, which has happened in the past with me getting flagrant fouls, really for nothing,” Embiid said at the end of January.
Embiid: LeBron should have been ejected for foul#NBA #NBATwitter #TheJumppic.twitter.com/lxOkCtk63m
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) January 28, 2021
Flash forward, during his Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets, Joel was visibly having back issues, which set the alarms for the Sixers fans and the general public.
Joel Embiid appears to be dealing with a back issue. pic.twitter.com/xKPqfXN3WD
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 18, 2021
After the Sixers earned the win over the Texan team, the MVP candidate revealed he was having these issues since that play with James, making it clear that he has no bad blood with the 4x NBA champion (4:47 mark).
“That’s when it started,” Embiid said, referring to Bron’s foul. “But it’s not alarming. As NBA players, we play every single night and the body is just sore. You just got to take care of yourself. It’s normal. It’s just tightness. As the days go by, some days it is tighter than usual, some days it’s not. Today, when we started the game, it was tighter than usual.”
JoJo is having a terrific season with the Sixers, having a big case for the MVP award against LeBron James, precisely. The center is taking his team to the next level and whenever he doesn’t play, the squad feels his absence. He’s ready to compete for a championship and Philly fans are ready to see what he’s going to bring to the table come playoffs time.
If his back and body help him, we can see this team making a lot of noise in the postseason, led by JoJo and Ben Simmons.
