Opinion: The time is right for Embiid to use zero hour as a wake-up call

Does Joel Embiid want to be great, or an alltime great? Is he satisfied with life as it is, or does he yearn for what it could be? Is he content with Springfield, or would he rather spend the rest of time in a realm above the mortals?

These are the questions that he should be asking himself after his performance against the Raptors. They say that you can’t stop the greatest players, that you can only hope to contain them. But in a 101-96 loss on Monday night, Embiid was stopped about as thoroughly as can happen: 0-for-3 from the foul line, 0-for-4 from threepoint range, 0-for-11 from the field. Four turnovers. Five personal fouls. A big fat zero in the points column.

This wasn’t just a bad night. It was historic. Only four times in the previous 36 seasons had a player attempted 11 field goals in at least 32 minutes of action without scoring so much as a single point. Aaron Gordon, J.R. Smith, Devean George, Tom Gugliotta. If you’re judged by the company you keep, this was an inexcusable performance.

And this isn’t just about numbers. Stuff happens. Shots don’t fall. But when they don’t, it’s how you go about your business that matters. Embiid handled his limitations in a way that virtually ensured the Sixers a loss. When he wasn’t blankfaced and slump-shouldered lingering on the outskirts of the offence, he was careening wildly around the court like an amateur YMCA baller.

The last time he was in Toronto, he was an adolescent among men. Out of shape and out of sync, battling injuries and illness, his season ended with him weeping in the arms of an opponent who’d spent seven straight games shutting him down. Monday night was a chance for

Embiid to show that they were the tears of a man and not a child. Instead, he played like a wannabe bully still smarting from a punch in the mouth.

Which brings us back to the question that Embiid must ask himself: Am I content being an all-star or am I willing to be the best?

Let’s be clear. Where he goes from here is very much a choice. There was nothing self-evident about Jordan becoming Jordan, or Kobe becoming Kobe, or Shaq becoming Shaq. They could have just as easily become Carmelo Anthony or Dwight Howard or, yes, Allen Iverson, content to play as they always have instead of dedicating themselves to getting better.

This isn’t a question of passion or work ethic or talent. This is a question of focus. When you get to the margins that Embiid already inhabits, it almost always is. There is a single-mindedness required to become a player who can’t be beat.

Thirteen games into his fourth NBA season, the ground upon which Embiid stands is either a waypoint or a plateau.

“I would have never thought I would be here talking about zero points in an NBA game,” Embiid said Monday.

That makes this the perfect time for a little self-reflection. The question isn’t whether he has the talent to be something more. It’s whether he has the discipline to make it happen.