Embiid channels his inner Kobe
Center’s big night comes on anniversary of his idol’s 81-point performance
PHILADELPHIA — It was the Wemby Game, but Joel Embiid will remember it as the night he got closest to his idol, Kobe Bryant.
Embiid scored 70 points Monday night and broke Wilt Chamberlain’s single-game scoring record for the 76ers, and while he appreciates supplanting the greatest Sixer in the record books, it meant more to Embiid that it happened on Jan. 22. Monday was the 18th anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game. Embiid believes he channeled the Mamba, who died in 2020.
“Kobe was my guy. He’s the reason I started playing basketball. That was my favorite player. He’s the guy I was looking up to,” Embiid said. “I didn’t know until after the game. It makes more sense now.”
It makes sense because Embiid, at 7 feet and 280 pounds, is the reigning MVP because he uses moves that made an MVP out of Bryant, who was 6 inches shorter and 70 pounds lighter.
“He plays the game like Kobe. He’s definitely reincarnated him at 7 feet,” said Kelly Oubre Jr. “That’s a blessing. I wish he would have got 82. Kept Kobe’s legacy alive.”
That was the most compelling of a litany of storylines.
In the win, Embiid dominated Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, who is 7-4 but just 209 pounds. He broke Chamberlain’s 56-year-old franchise record. Wilt scored 68 points against the Bulls on Dec. 16, 1967. (He scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pa., against the Knicks).
“To be in the same conversation,” Embiid said, “that’s pretty cool.”
Bryant’s 81 points stands as the second-highest total in NBA history, behind Wilt’s 100. Embiid tied
Devin Booker and Wilt for 12th-highest. Wilt is on the 70-plus list five other times, too. The last player to hit for 70 was Damian Lillard, whose Trail Blazers beat KJ Martin Jr. and the Rockets on Feb. 26 last year.
“It’s different, though, because Jo only took, what, one three?” said Martin, who joined the Sixers in the offseason.
Actually, Embiid shot two 3-pointers and made one. Lillard shot 22, and he made 13, one shy of the NBA record.
Embiid made 24 of 41 field goals and 21 of 23 free throws. His two 3-point attempts tied David Robinson for the lowest number of attempts among 70-point scorers since the NBA adapted the 3-pointer in 1979. Robinson, a Hall of Famer for the Spurs, scored 71 points almost 30 years ago.
It has virtually become a scoring mark dependent on the 3-pointer, a point nearly underscored in Minnesota on Monday night.
Karl-anthony Towns, one of Embiid’s premier contemporaries, scored 62 points in the Timberwolves’ loss to Charlotte. He hit 10 of 15 3s. Embiid has taken no more than 13 in any game of his career and has attempted double-digit 3-pointers just three times in 479 games, including playoffs.
“I dream I can do that, but I probably can’t,” Embiid said. “I thought he was gonna beat me.”
The NBA has never seen two 70-point scorers on the same night but the potential was there: Towns failed to score in the last 5 minutes, 37 seconds of his game. Still, it was just the fourth time two NBA players scored at least 60 points on the same night and the first time in the 3-point era.
The magical night had magical moments.
Perhaps the sweetest came after the game, when Embiid sought out former head coach Brett Brown, now a Spurs assistant. Brown coached the Sixers in the early years of The Process, when the team lost on purpose to compile draft picks like Embiid. Brown nursed him through a variety of injuries and developed Embiid, a latecomer to the game, through his first four seasons.
They met near midcourt. Embiid put his hands on Brown’s shoulders. He said: “This one’s for you.”
It’s the happiest Brown has ever been after a loss.
He broke his previous career high of 59 points, set against the Lakers on Dec. 9 last season
“It’s not like I just woke up one day and I was, like, ‘I gotta try and go out and dominate and have the best game of my career,’ he said. “I try to do that every night.”