Barkley & Shaq Are Right About Embiid
You don’t have to be a basketball-lifer, gym rat, or hoop-head to know that Joel Embiid possesses the potential to be one of the most dominant NBA players of the past couple of decades. After the 76ers game last night, Charles Barkley had some harsh words for Joel Embiid.
“He’s [Embiid] the toughest player in the league to match up with, but we don’t talk about him the way we talk about Luka [Doncic], Giannis [Antetokounmpo], Anthony Davis, James [Harden] — we don’t ever say that about him. It’s frustrating for me, because I picked the Sixers to get to the Finals. They ain’t go no chance.” –Charles Barkley
Shaq piled on.
“when you have two guys who have been where you’re trying to go, it can’t be criticism. It can only be information.
Kareem used to criticize me all the time, but I’m like he’s right. He’s giving me information on how to get to the next level.
If we’re like all these other people, who do sports shows, that’s criticism. We’re not criticizing. We’re telling you you could be great You ain’t playing hard enough. 22 ain’t enough to get to the next level. You want to be great or you want to be good. If you want to be good keep getting 22. If you want to be great, give me 28…give me 30. You want to be great, watch Giannis Antetokounmpo or whatever his name is.” -Shaq
Shaq and Barkley ain’t wrong. They saw what we’ve been seeing all season. While twenty-two points and eight rebounds seem like a good night in the NBA, Embiid is capable of more. He’s obviously got the skills to be the most dominant big man, a top 5 superstar in the NBA—one that can lead a team to multiple Championships if he’s healthy—and a player that should never put up zero points while playing a full game. It’s plausible that Embiid doesn’t know how to get there.
The most important thing I took from the NBA on TNT post-game commentary was Shaq’s quote about Kareem being critical of him, or as Shaq called it “giving him information.” Shaq made it a point to stress that they were not criticizing Embiid but giving him information to be better.
Barkley probably had the same intention—to give Embiid information or motivation to take his game to the next level. Barkley has repeatedly told the story about Moses being honest with him about being fat and lazy when he first came into the league. Moses told Barkley to lose some weight, but also worked out with Barkley over the next month or so before and after team workouts.
“So now I’m playing a little bit,” Barkley said, “and Moses says to me, ‘Lose 10 more.’ I get down to 275 and I’m close to breaking into the starting lineup and the big man tells me, ‘Ten more. Give me 10 more.’ By the time he was done with me, I was down to 255 pounds.”
Barkley started the final 60 games of the Sixers’ season, averaged 14 points and eight rebounds a game and was named to the All-Rookie Team. via ESPN
The problem is that today’s NBA is not like years of old. This is a players’ league and tough-love doesn’t seem to be the motivation of choice for most of today’s players. The chances of older players calling Embiid out on national television and that becoming a transformative moment in his development is as likely as Nelson Agholor returning to the Eagles next year.
However, they may be onto something and simply going about it the wrong way. Maybe, just maybe, the one thing Embiid is missing is a legitimate and credible mentor. That’s what Shaq had in Kareem and Barkley had in Moses. Embiid doesn’t have that.
Whatever you do in life, having a successful mentor is invaluable—someone to show you how to get where you want to go. They can make the journey far easier. That’s indisputable. Ask the majority of successful people in life and they’ll tell you the importance of some mentor along the way. Granted, some folks like Michael Jordan inherently despise losing so greatly that they need no outside mentors or motivation. That, though, is not the norm.
A Forbes magazine article on mentoring states:
Trying to do great things is difficult. Trying to do them alone is, more often than not, impossible. That’s why all great leaders have mentors, and also mentor others.
I think the Sixers have realized this and have tried to provide mentors by bringing in Elton Brand and Al Horford, both veteran bigs in the NBA.
The problem is that neither of them knows how to achieve superstardom or deal with the pressures that it brings. Elton is a career two-time NBA All-Star with a career average of 16 points and 9 rebounds. Horford solid big player and five-time All-Star who averages 14 points and 8 rebounds. They are good players, but never a top 5 player in the league and never a champion.
It’s often difficult for young folks to take advice from people who haven’t achieved their own great success. Ask any teacher, professor, or parent. Embiid isn’t any different. It’s quite possible that Embiid getting advice from Elton Brand and Horford doesn’t hit home because he’s already better in his fourth season than they ever were.
Barkley and Shaq had future legends mentoring them and showing them the way to achieve their goals and handle their business from day one. I’m not talking about name-calling but demonstrating the work and commitment needed to reach one’s fullest potential on a daily basis. Embiid has not had that. It was a colossal shit-storm of losing when Embiid first arrived and he was injured.
Barkley was even lucky enough to have Billy Cunningham as a coach and mentor and Julius Erving as another teammate. That’s three people, early in his career, who found themselves in the NBA’s Top 50 players of all-time.
I realize that legendary, future Hall of Fame, big men aren’t readily available to add to the 76ers roster or front office. I appreciate the attempts that the organization has made to address his lack of mentoring. They just haven’t found the right person.
Shaq and Barkley seem to realize this and are trying to motivate and mentor Embiid from afar. They’re just going about it the wrong way. Calling Embiid out on national television isn’t going to help.
What is the right way? I don’t know, but I have a thought.
There’s a Hall of Fame big man on a coaching staff that’s familiar with the system. His name is Tim Duncan. He’s an assistant with the Spurs. Popovich has two more years on his contract. While there are thoughts that Popovich may retire before the contract runs out, Kansas’ Bill Self (who is best friends with Spurs’ GM Buford) is rumored to be the preferred Popovich replacement, not Duncan.
Is there a way to get Duncan on the Sixers’ sideline next year? He seems like he’d be the perfect mentor for Joel, one that will build his confidence and share the wisdom of a Hall of Fame, all-time-great big man.
Let’s home something clicks soon. The possibility of multiple future NBA Championships kind of depends upon it.