Embiid earning status among all-time greats
The Sixers drafted Joel Embiid, taking a chance on a player with a twisted back, then immediately asked him to take what seemed to be an unreasonable leap.
Once, twice, several times in the draft aftermath — then stressed when he signed his contract — the Sixers likened their new center to Hakeem Olajuwon.
At the time, the organization was having trouble winning a basketball game let alone discovering a player comparable to a 12-year All-Star who led the NBA in rebounds, won two championships, was an MVP, scored 26,946 points and was in the Hall of Fame. But what is a draft without hyperbole, and what did a franchise stuck in a ditch since 1983 have to lose by likening their newest player to one with the nickname, “The Dream”?
Dream on …
That was eight years ago, about half a career for any classic NBA big man. Since then, Embiid has made four All-Star teams (with a fifth essentially cinched) yet has been unable to help the Sixers become serious championship contenders. He has been red-shirted, injured, injured and injured, but, when healthy, he has been able to show a greater repertoire of skills than anyone ever to wear a Sixers uniform.
Until this season, Embiid was about where he should have been given his talents and the talents he has been surrounded by through a parade of five general managers. He was a franchise difference maker. But would he ever become a legend?
The other night against one of those teams the NBA should be humiliated to approve to play under its good name, the eight-win Orlando Magic, Embiid needed 27 minutes to score 50 points, mixing in a dozen rebounds and a couple of assists. He dunked often, protected the rim, pushed the ball in transition, drew fouls, shot 15-for-17 from the line and hit a threepointer.
“I was like a fan,” Tyrese
Maxey said. “It was amazing to watch. I was messing with him before the game, about who he was going to be tonight: Shaq? Dirk? He was like, ‘I’m going to be Joel.’ I said, ‘OK, you be Joel then.’ And that’s what he did.”
And that’s where the Joel Embiid story has turned in what has become his most glorious season. It has grown from one of a developing superstar to one where it is approved to invoke the names of Shaquille O’Neal and Dirk Nowitzki into any conversation about his basketball brilliance. A year ago — and earlier in his career, too — the discussion typically was limited to Embiid’s place among the current NBA legends. Should he be an MVP, or should that be Nikola Jokic or Steph Curry or Luka Doncic? He was still relatively young and building a legend.
That legend, almost overnight, has grown.
There is never a distinct moment when the OK is handed down to formally include a player in discussion about the statue-worthy. But that’s what has happened this season, with
Embiid not only playing at an MVP level but dominating in ways that only the early-ballot Hall of Famers dominated.
By Wednesday, upon that punishment of the Magic, it was all out in the open, never again to be bottled.
“You know, he’s just really good,” Doc Rivers decided. “Just dominant in every way.” Every way.
Every.
That’s what makes Embiid deserving of verbal company with number-retired stars - his variety of skills. O’Neal made one three-pointer in his career. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could never be trusted to handle a point-guard shift. Nowitzki was a below-average defender, while Embiid is a consistent Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
None of that makes Joel Embiid the best player ever, and it would be juvenile to make the suggestion. Win a title. Win several. Stop turning the ball over late in games. Stay healthy. Do it for another five years. Score 20,000 more points. LeBron James and Michael Jordan needn’t worry at this point about losing ground to Embiid in the greatest-of-all-time rankings, and likely never will.
Yet it would be closed-minded to watch Embiid this season without acknowledging that he is on a Hall of Fame arc. Just ask him?
“At times, whenever I want, I’m able to be Shaq,” he said. “And whenever I want I’m also able to be Dirk, Kobe (Bryant), or MJ, or any guard really, meaning shooting off the dribble, pulls-up or ballhandling.”
Embiid has never resisted a promise to dominate the sport, and more often than not has been capable of backing up his boasts. It’s been central to his charm and it has proven to be a useful way to motivate himself to meet the Olajuwon Standard.
The other night, he took his self-promotion to another level, dropping some big names.
As Tyrese Maxey understood, “Joel” has become a name that big too.