It's Literally Insane That Celtics Fans And Players Are This Upset With Joel Embiid For Trying To Secure A Rebound
Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.First, let me just start by saying that the Sixers owe the entire city of Philadelphia an apology. Last night there were 3 Philly sports teams all playing on national broadcasts at the same time. The "lowly" Flyers were up against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team which has played in each of the past 3 Stanley Cup Finals. The Phillies were playing in game 1 of the NLCS against the Padres in San Diego. And then you had the Sixers vs Celtics. The Sixers were the only team to lose, thus ending Philly's undefeated streak since last Thursday. So I'll now give them this time to let us know how sorry they are for their actions in that 2nd half.
Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about this little…scuffle from last night. If you read what Greenie had to say about the situation, you'd think that Joel Embiid pulled out a gun and went to shoot Marcus Smart but thankfully the safety was still on.
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You've got Marcus Smart saying he should have cracked Embiid's head open. You've got Jaylen Brown talking about how they have each other's backs out there. "Fuck Embiid" chants ringing out from the rafters. All over a rebound.
Ummmm I'm sorry but in what world is Joel Embiid not allowed to grab a rebound without this type of response? Was Marcus Smart's arm trapped when Embiid went to rip the ball away from him? Sure. But Joel Embiid didn't put Marcus Smart's arm there. I mean sure, it looked pretty violent when Joel tries to rip the ball away. But that's what happens when you have someone out there who is simply bigger and badder than everybody else. I'm sure that watching a literal giant pick up and pet a puppy yorkie would look violent as well. Doesn't mean the intention is there.
To question Joel Embiid's intention here is just donkey-brained behavior. Joel is a father. He's a man of honor and integrity. He plays the game the right way, and would never succumb to childish behavior on the court like that. He's focused on winning an MVP, not being a sideshow in the league. Shame on anyone who would question his integrity like that.
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And now that all the gaslighting is out of the way….this part of the blog right here is for Philly fans and Philly fans only.
I'm worried about Joel. I know it's early and I know he just needs to play his way back into things. But every time he hits the ground it takes him like 5 minutes to get up. And then all the extra shit he does out there was funny for a few years, but clearly it's not helping. There's a difference between being an asshole (which is a good thing) on the court and being a clown. There's a very thin line between the two, and I think Joel just needs to back off the extracurricular shit before he finds himself too far on the clown side. All the greats were assholes on the court. So I get what Joel is going for. But it would be nice to see him just lock it in and focus on being great for a while.