Joel Embiid and the 76ers have been on the wrong end of an historic two-game stretch. According to ESPN, they became the first NBA team in the past 25 years to blow an 18-point lead in back-to-back playoff games. Their biggest cushion over the Hawks on Wednesday was 26 points, the third-largest blown playoff lead over the past 25 years.
It’s been a brutal time to be a Sixers player, and that prompted Joel Embiid to skip his media availability after Game Five. It was something TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal debated on Wednesday’s Inside the NBA.
“I wanna say this one thing, and I’m not mad,” Barkley explained on the show. “I wanna say this about Joel Embiid. I think he’s a great player and a good kid, but I don’t like it when players don’t talk to the press. Cuz if you have a great game, you run to the microphone. I don’t like it when any player in any sport does this; you should always talk to the press. Because they’re not paying you $35 million to just play basketball.”
Shaquille O’Neal has been in Embiid’s spot before and had empathy for the All-NBA level player. He bandied back at Barkley by saying it’s not part of a player’s contract, but his TNT teammate was undeterred.
“The reason those guys are making that money is because TNT and ESPN, we’re paying them a lot of money,” Barkley said back to Shaq. “I think these guys do have a responsibility. You know, these guys get all bent out of shape. Listen, you should say, ‘Hey, you know what, we let one get away,’ like Doc Rivers said after Game Four. I would love to see Joel Embiid say, ‘You know what, I’ll take responsibility, I’m the best player on this team.’ Like I said, I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. You don’t get to talk to the press just when you win. I don’t like that.”