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Over the past few years, superstar center Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers has taken some giant leaps forward in his mission to become one of the best players in league history and lead his team to an NBA title.
Although it seemed like the 76ers hit a bit of a speed bump in the NBA offseason with the James Harden fiasco, Philadelphia hasn’t missed a beat since trading the disgruntled guard, with the team sporting one of the best records in the league at 23-13 nearing the halfway point of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Along with having the 76ers in a good position to make some noise in the Eastern Conference once again, Embiid is following up his first NBA MVP season with another solid year in Philadelphia, averaging 34.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 53.5% from the floor and 36% from deep.
Needless to say, Embiid is hitting his stride and seems determined to keep his team in title contention in the East while potentially winning another MVP award this season.
Even though Embiid is playing at an extremely high level once again this season, former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal won’t be impressed until he gets it done during the playoffs, as he said on The Big Podcast via NBA Central.
“We know what you can do, but can you do it at the big dance?” O’Neal said.
Shaq says he’ll give Joel Embiid respect once he shows up in the playoffs
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As O’Neal said, he was pushed to be great in the same way by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he was in his prime with the Lakers, as nothing impressed the former face of the franchise other than rings.
Fortunately, O’Neal was able to come through and win three rings during his time with the Lakers, earning Abdul-Jabbar’s respect, but it remains to be seen if Embiid will do the same in Philadelphia.
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