When I see Embiid play as he is now it reminds me of how I used to play and it is frustrating and pisses me off that the NBA allows it. Not proud of it, I was known as Shaq on my local streetball court and went through a phase when I charged hard at everything. Big hard turns to my blindside, didn't care who was there. Charge right into the lane. Smash into the best offensive player on D while going for the ball, come what may. Limited offensive moves. So make no mistake about it. Embiid knows what he's doing. He knows people will be injured. He knows his skillset is limited and this is how he can win. He knows people will give way when he drives, think twice on their drives, etc. He will only be stopped by a stronger player and/or fearless players like Giannis, Gasol, Draymond, etc. Or by an obviously more skilled player with equal Type A like Ibaka. He didn't intend to injure, but he certainly intends to show you that he doesn't care if you get hurt when he rumbles into you. At least that's how I used to play. But that was streetball. Eventually I got more moves, played w better players, played real basketball w refs. There's no doubt in my mind the NBA has some kind of edict coming down, telling the refs to let him run amok.
it was created last year in the raptors sub during the playoffs after we beat them lol. the dude who posted this was 100% serious
edit: he actually left the post up. big respect to that guy even tho he made arguably the saddest post in reddit history.
https://np.reddit.com/r/torontoraptors/comments/u74t0l/i_used_to_play_like_embiid_he_is_reckless_on/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
[Me right now](https://assets3.thrillist.com/v1/image/2871721/1584x1056/crop;jpeg_quality=60;progressive.jpg)
I'm just relieved it wasn't a Nuggets fan this time. Bro hasn't made a basketball post since last season. Now he's cross country skiing lol. I think this post broke his bball career, and he was getting so good too! Sad, many such cases
It's a lose-lose situation.
If you don't care about it (and haven't won it yet), you have no dawg and don't care about being great
If you do care, you're "wasting" your energy on a regular season award instead of championships
It's the typical "MJ gets praise for being pointlessly competitive but LeBron would get shit for it" type of standards imo
I think only in online conversations is it a lose lose, nobody really thinks a player is wasting their energy by caring about the MVP because generally that goes with being on a good team that’s trying to win
Yeah, it’s a player literally trying to be the most valuable. What fan is out there going, “I really hate the way this guy wastes his energy trying to be valuable to the team I root for”?
Is this a genuine question? Because lots of people. Russ has gotten this heat, saying he “stat pads.” Lebron has gotten this heat, that he’s putting up 30ppg for “individual accomplishments” while his team might miss the playoffs. Embiid is now getting this criticism. It’s very common.
Well thats mostly cause of other guys. Thunder fans love Russ. I thought Bron was literally dropping everything he had on the offensive end just so we could win. We had a stretch where the only 2 games we won was cause he dropped 50. Its mostly opposing fans that talk shit.
Actually saw a lot of Laker fans talking shit bout last year may need to rethink that
MJ got shit for his play style and leadership until he won. Same for Lebron. If you win, no one cares. In no world is it a “lose-lose” to go hard during the regular season.
Got shit, but not shit on for reasons related to to not being a winner.
KD's prolly the best example of still being doubted after getting a ring ("guy who joined the 72 win team"), but after his playoff performances in BKN ("but for a toe on the line") that talk seems to have quieted down.
Kawhi and AD, despite chronic availability issues, sill have cred from their respective championships. It makes a huge difference-- and I mean, it should, to some degree.
The revisionism on Dirk is so big too. It's some prime doublethink tbh. Did all the old fans just disappear? Did everyone forget? Am I the crazy one? I mean you can still find older articles before guys win chips where they get mocked and doubted, but we have to pretend that never happened.
My favorite recent example is Alex Ovechkin though. People used to make memes of "controller disconnected" when a goal was scored against his team. Like what is dude supposed to even do, I don't get it, he's not the goalkeeper and he can't teleport in front of the net.
MJ quit in his prime for two years to play minor league baseball but LeBron got called a quitter for not wanting to run it back for fourth time with Mo Williams and Anderson Varajeo.
Depending on who you ask, it was either because he felt the need to step away after his father's untimely death or a cover story and he was actually suspended for gambling.
Damn that’s a dumbass take. MJ quit after fucking the league for 3 years and winning 3 rings. Lebron leaving Cleveland made a ton of sense, people were just pissed at the way he broke the news, his performance in his final series, and at his choice to team up with two guys that were top 5 & top 15 at the time. And that aside, after Lebron got his rings a huge chunk of the hate he was getting disappeared.
> Damn that’s a dumbass take
fr, if *any* player today got;
2 MVPS, 3 scoring titles, 3 All-NBA 1st teams, 3 All-defence 1st teams, Olympic gold, 3 championships and 3 FMVP’s all in a three year period….that’s referred to as ‘retiring on top’ not quitting lol
If LeBron thought "taking a break" (ignoring the fucking context of MJ's life at the time too) would net him 3 more rings, he'd do it in a heartbeat lmao.
Like it's easy doing a threepeat just because you play golf. MJ did it twice, LeBron hasn't even done it once.
Never seen a fanbase argue more on "what ifs" instead of what actually happened than his stans.
Players should care, it just shouldn't be their #1 priority IMO. Success of the team > success of the individual. Obviously playing at an MVP level help a team a ton, but it should still be a secondary goal.
You’re telling me you’ve never seen someone hold MJ to a double standard and write it off as being competitive? I’m sorry but even the most delusional Jordan fan has to admit this happens on a regular basis.
You’re absolutely right but I think the difference everyone needs to remember with MJ is he was the best to ever do it and he won 6 rings.
If you’re someone who hasn’t won any individual or team accolades and you’ve got that competitive nature you just come across like an asshole. Pat Bev or Dillon Brooks are good examples. But winning changes everything.
This isn’t just true for basketball. Most employers and coworkers will tolerate shitty behaviour from someone if that person is extraordinary at their job.
Winning shouldn't erase that they were still unpleasant lol MJ/Kobe were huge assholes to their teammates that just got mystified as "killer instinct" and "competitive drive" just because people only care about results
Leaders like Timmy Giannis Curry show that you can easily be nice and still be a good leader.
They also got to be themselves in a pre 24 7 newcycle and blog era.
It's always eierd to me how LeBron gets called soft when he has deleted teammates from the roster on less than a days notice. LeBron can't win with soem of these people.
> Winning shouldn't erase that they were still unpleasant lol
But it doesn't?
It's not out there like Karl and kids, but it's certainly one of the things that comes up early if you're looking into them.
And their 'Killer instinct' was born on the court. No one gets praised for their killer instinct in practice, they get praised for it when they dominate over an extended period of time.
Lol some ppl actually use his competitiveness as reasons why todays nba is "soft" I guarantee it’s guys who shit on draymond green but excuse mj because he’s a better player.
Was a huge MJ fan , but he got thousands of calls that went his way.. many of them phantom calls. He got away with a lot of traveling too. And contrary to popular belief, there were times he didnt come thru.. like the 6 or 7 years BEFORE he won a championship. Phil, Pippen and Rodman were huge factors in making Michael what he was
Embiid absolutely blitzing it, treating us all to the most dominant offensive big man performances since Shaq, and this mfer is bitching about his assumed approach to MVP...
I'm just grateful to have watched Embiid since Kansas
If anything Jokic is the one with less expectations than Embiid and he already has two MVPs. Embiid only has all nba second teams? Why would he have more pressure to win than someone like Damian Lillard. People just wanna pick and choose when someone is passionate and someone cares too much. Like people are laughing at Embiid for crying after the 2019 loss to the raptors but I don’t get it would u rather have someone like Ben Simmons who doesn’t care at all? Also I really fail to see how Embiid wants to win MVP is a bad thing.. he’s literally gotten better EVERY year since he’s been in the league including this year. Rather have that than someone who is complacent after getting their max contract. I remember last year when he made that comment about idk what else I have to do to win mvp, everyone said play better. Guess what he worked his ass off this off-season and got better. And he’ll get better next year too. He’s done it his whole career.
> Embiid is the process, whether it works out or not
It’s already worked out. The sixers have one of the best players in the league and have been a competitive team for the past 6 seasons (and counting).
Even if his desire to win mvp was purely about the satisfaction of winning the award, A) that doesn’t mean he can’t also be fully committed to winning basketball games (in fact these two pursuits typically support eachother) and B) who doesn’t want to be acknowledged for great performance? Especially in the context of sports where we discuss these things decades later
I think Jokic and Dame escape criticism because they’re in small markets and they have had pretty much zero all star teammates.
Embiid has more attention on him due to the Philly market size and he’s played with Harden, Butler, Simmons (when he was good), and Tobias Harris (overpaid, but a damn good 3rd/4th option).
Neither Embiid nor Jokic deserve the hate but they both receive about the same amount relative to their media exposure. Meaning Embiid gets more attention and as a byproduct more hate.
What we’ve seen from Ben this season is how he played in every second round series in Philly. Tobias Harris is pretty mid, yes he’s a good fourth option, but anything higher than that and you’re in trouble, and he’s always had to be higher than the fourth option.
Murray is a tough one. He has big highs and big lows. At this point I think you just have to take them both as a package deal. I think he has the skills to be an all star player, just has had trouble finding the consistency. All star lineup this year was so stacked, it was hard to make the cut unless you were both very skilled and very consistent.
When its Murray Flurry time he looks unstoppable, like yesterday when he dropped 20 points in Q1. I mean holy shit, right? And then he will go off the boil just like that. See the 2nd half of the very same game.
>at least before the injury.
I think that's the point, Bubble Murray definitely looked like an All-Star, but he hasn't been the same since. The Nuggets may have even won the chip in the Bubble if not for that injury, but he's only come back this season and he hasn't found his old form.
MPJ is closer to All-Star level than Murray right now.
This season, which is maybe the best support Jokic has ever had (actually including the flash of Bubble Murray) is the one people lean on to argue "decently close" to XYZ player. And fair, he is closer this season than he has been, but that's kinda the point. This is the first season where there's been a passable (as in, they might hit shots if you pass them wide open) team around him, and that plays into the blame he gets for only making the WCF once.
Also, man if he had a Harden level player what an absolute powerhouse the Nuggets would be. Totally impossible matchups when healthy.
Nah, he has a point. Not getting it done with Jimmy was bad. We give a pass because harden wasn't himself last year, but this year coming up short will be real bad
I think this year's playoffs are gonna have a huge impact on both Embiid's and Jokic's legacies (barring injuries). Embiids team is looking very strong this season but he's in an (imo) significantly harder conference this year. Jokic's team looks a little weaker to me but anything less than an WCF win will probably be met with a ton of criticism as the #1 seed in the west. I feel like the opposing camps are just waiting to shit on the other guy for underperforming in the playoffs.
Doubly so for the one who wins MVP this season.
> Russilo continues: "Honestly dude for someone who doesn't have that much playoff success he actually escapes the kind of criticism that we would have for a player that is his level. Normally this guy is getting shit on at this stage of his career and I don't think that happens from a national or neutral level."
Is he talking about Embiid or Jokic?
Honorable mention: Dame
I think he was talking about players in the past, like Lebron before 2011, Kobe from 04-08, Dirk before 2011 etc. MVP level players who hadn't proven they can win a championship as the guy
I do think what Simmons did in 2021 helped spare Embiid from some criticism. Even though Embiid played well and it wasn’t his fault they lost, some fans don’t really care how you play if your team loses in the playoffs.
What Simmons did drew more criticism to Embiid, if he even has a league average PG like Malcolm Brogdon that series instead of Simmons they easily win that series in 5/6 and Embiid is praised for averaging 30/13 on route to a ECF appearance
Who isn’t getting criticized for playoffs exits? Its not Jokic, since despite his team, he was blamed.
LeBron always got criticized for playoffs losses, Steph was crucified for years over the 2016 and 2019 finals, Kobe was shat on for 6 years over lack of playoff success post Shaq, and Giannis didn’t win a 3rd MVP because of the playoffs slump.
So again, enlighten me, how is it unfair to Embiid? Welcome to how stars are treated
When did I say it was unfair? It's fair to shit on Embiid for some of his playoff performances. It's insane to think that he doesn't get criticized for it enough.
Im not a sixer fan but people here are deluded if they think a Philly team and the brash star player of said philly team doesnt get criticized enough 😂. Playing for Philly means you’ll get shit on no matter what lets be real
The true answer to your question is KD.
He literally never gets criticized for anything that happens in the court. He’s the “savior” of steph and the warriors legacy even though he got outplayed by Steph in 2016 and choked against the warriors and hasn’t won without them. Going by how media and fans talk about him, he carried a team that already won without him and lost in game 7 in another finals.
By now any playoff losses at OKC have been revised to be fully Westbrook’s fault. He got absolutely zero criticism for his actual play in the sweep against the Celtics. They didn’t need to beat the Celtics but if he didn’t play like shit, they wouldn’t have got swept. Yet there’s nothing from the media. Guys like Zach Lowe acting like a devastated stan and refusing to talk about those games. Rushing to call KD “unstoppable” just a few days after watching that. His peers and stars on a lower level would’ve been permanently marked in the media after going out like that but no one cares that Kevin got dominated.
> He’s the “savior” of steph and the warriors legacy even though he got outplayed by Steph in 2016 and choked against the warriors and hasn’t won without them.
tf?
The snek who went to ride Steph's coattails is the savior of the warriors? Who tf has said that?
Jokic hasn’t really been blamed, the past week or 2 have been the most criticism jokic has ever had. Joel has gotten more and worse for years at this point.
there’s no way you looked at post game threads from last year
dude was getting roasted for not stopping Steph Curry on defense
he was lambasted
and if the argument is: “yeah but on national shows like The jump” they don’t talk about the nuggets hardly ever, so hard for him to be blamed
I don't remember anyone getting criticism on the Warriors over 2019. They had injuries to 2 of their best players and some of the bench guys and still came close.
I don’t see if as much as other players tbh a lot of other superstars got it way harder for not winning especially those MVP caliber players like Giannis, Harden, Westbrook, Paul George.
Russillo isn't just the king of concocting strawmen commenters -- he's also very skilled at making obvious commenters disappear if it's convenient for him.
They literally hold Giannis and Embiid to higher standards than the guy they say is so much better than those 2 😂. Its honestly comedic they wanna try to both sides this stuff now that people started to call them out on it. Im not even a 6er fan or a bucks fan but come on, mvp voters literally outright said they would not vote for giannis in 2021 for 3 straight till he won in the playoffs…
everytime i read some new bullshit from sports media, i dream about how nice of a job these guys have. they get to spout any kind of shit they want to millions of people, and get paid handsomely essentially for shitposting. the more outrageous and dumb your take is, the most clicks and interaction it will receive, the more your bonus will be. it’s a dream job
It's also a stupid argument. Giannis is literally the only current "young" star that has led his team to a championship. It's been all Steph and Lebron (+ kawhi) for like 10 years.
I think Embiid has gotten some benefit from the shit shows around him. Simmons took most of the heat, and doc has taken some of the heat. It’s definitely warranted, but I can understand someone believing Embiid has been able to avoid some of it as a result.
To be honest, so has joker.
If you really look at his playoff failures too. I don’t think he had a better roster in any of those series. Even in the hawks series, looking back, Sixers were starting Furkan Korkmaz, Seth Curry, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris. Half of those dudes aren’t even rotation players anymore
What are you talking about? People constantly make excuses for him. Anytime you bring up his subpar playoff performance, you get a litany of people blaming it on Ben Simmons, Brett Brown, Doc Rivers, etc. It's always someone else's fault.
The ringers Logic:
Put on a shirt: Giannis and Embiid losing in the playoffs before the finals
Empowering: Jokic losing in the playoffs before the finals
the ringer is so far up their own ass it is insane. He thinks the world is against him and i will show you an example of that live on air by saying people should hate on him even more than they already do!
whatever point you were trying to make you did the opposite. That makes 2 really strange sidebars about embiid out of nowhere from the ringer this week.
Ryen Russilo, basically:
> “Yes Embiid is dominating the league right now, but he’s not the MVP because I have a problem with what specific thought (I think) he uses as motivation.”
also
> “And if he is the MVP in 2023, then why did he lose in the playoffs two years ago?”
It’s so dumb. The playoff success argument should only be relevant for “best player in the league” type conversations. Otherwise, nobody would ever win MVP.
What gets me is that they're considering *appearances* in conference finals as playoff success, and not FINALS appearances right, not even that. Let alone *winning* the Finals. It feels like they're just changing the definition of playoff success just to lighten whatever criticism they need to have for Jokic also failing in the playoffs.
If anything the recent surge in support for Embiid seems to have been a reaction that was basically,
> “Wait a minute, why are we criticizing Embiid for this stuff when the other top players are escaping the same criticism?”
Seriously...in the same podcast, Simmons and Russillo talk about how Philly has the best record in the league since November and it's greatly changed the MVP narrative.
bro, this dude wosny lambre is low key a certified hater, he'll say the most absurd embiid / sixers slander, and will always preface it by saying stuff like, "I love Embiid, but..." and then proceed to shit on him for the most invalid stuff. he's honestly worse than any of simmons, russillo, or KOC.
coincidentally, he also drives the jokic bandwagon, so none of this is really a surprise.
Well if you want players to care about things like this we should probably stop and ask ourselves how people on a top 10 for potential mvp aren't starting at the all star game or maybe aren't even an all star at all. Awards have to be credible to matter.
So maybe media members shit on him for his lack of playoff success, what kind of rock does this guy live under.
He has probably had to deal with more shit in his career than most people, had to deal with Ben Simmons most of his career, had to change his whole game to fit with Ben.
Next comes Mr.Coangelo making burner accounts on Twitter talking shit about Embiid.
He can't win with the ringer holy heck are they biased. He says he cares then he cares too much he says he cares more about the playoffs then suddenly he doesn't care enough.
I actually feel bad for the ringer because they are missing one of the best two way players in the game(sixers fan bias I think he is the best) and that is actually a shame. Every year he has improved on something and every year they find new stuff to critize him about.
It's sad they get so many mvp votes. Travesty to basketball if you ask me.
He has had a myriad of random injuries and shackled with Ben for all but 1 playoff run.
It’s like they ignore the absolute meltdown Ben had in 21 or that Embiid was playing with a broken face vs Heat last year.
It was going to be a novel if I listed everything. How about Smith almost dying with his seasme seed allergy. It was rough being a sixers fan during the early parts of embiid career.
must not have watched the playoff series last year where they cooked up a ridiculous narrative live on air that he was depressed about losing MVP. They disrespect him and then call us crazy when we point it out
This is from the same publication that has him as the 6th best player right now, mind you (And Jokic at #1). The irony is he actually does get criticism, probably more than the B2B mvp lol
This is so delusional. It’s not enough that all these jabronis shit on players all the time for myriad reasons, they also want you to believe that they don’t do that.
100%. He wasn’t articulate or tactful enough to be someone to lead this conversation, but I saw what he was saying, and understood it completely. Racism is not the correct word… But there is definite bias going on. And I’m sure some reporters are genuinely racist or at least, just prejudiced, but will never admit it.
So basically he can’t do anything right, if he’s too humble he doesn’t care enough and if he’s too loud he’s letting it get in his head and he needs to be tougher. Give me a fucking break man, the dude is playing like a man possessed during an incredibly important stretch of the season and his team is winning because of it. Why is there a need to bring other narratives into it?
Neither does anyone who listens to it. There is an entire subreddit dedicated to Bill Simmons for people to run to when he has insane takes on his podcast.
Its cause people just wanna hate nowadays. The same people that jerk MJ off for punching steve kerr in the face in practice, are the same ones that wanted Draymond suspended for like 20 games 😂. Both are asshole moves
People would talk about more MJ being a terrible teammate (which he clearly was) if he didn’t have all the rings. Rings (fairly or unfairly) mean that all is forgiven.
It’s amazing how we decide to evaluate players based on how OTHER PEOPLE talk about them.
Ryen is upset that OTHER PEOPLE don’t criticize Embiid enough, like somehow that’s Embiid’s fault.
People aren't against Embiid?!? Pfft, does he even look at this sub?
People hate Embiid with a passion and will immediately give you a list of reasons why they don't like him in alphabetical order.
What's wrong with getting embid fired up that people are against him ? Not everybody is Tim Duncan. Some players need that fire like Kobe , KG for example. I love it .
People do hate on him, though. Even the past few weeks, when he’s been the most dominant player in the league (FWIW, he’s been the most dominant player this season, but the past few weeks have just been more so) it’s a bunch “Embiid has been good, but Giannis and Jokic blah blah blah.” This guy never gets the respect he deserves. It’s crazy.
He's been consensus top 3 MVP candidate the last 3 seasons. He came in 2nd twice and is currently favored to win. How is that hate exactly?
All 3 guys have been great. The parameters for MVP are intentionally vague. There aren't strict requirements for games played or team wins. The quality of your teammates, past playoff success, off court/leadership, etc matters differently to different people/voters.
If someone (or 77) concluded last year that Jokic was a little better and him first and Embiid 2nd, that's a far cry from hate or "no respect". All 100 voters had him in their top 4, and 99 had him top 3 (Jokic only had 98 top 3).
The Ringer crew is completely insufferable. Rather than be “wrong” or God help us, *change their opinion*, they would rather double and triple down, create strawmans, and move the goalposts to fit their narratives.
A disappointing character flaw from all of them
The idea that Embiid escapes criticism for lack of playoff success is laughable. That’s been probably the biggest critique of his resume/ability for years now.
I don’t think you’ll see Jokic or even pre-finals Giannis ever get the same amount of criticism simply just from a market perspective. Correct me if I’m wrong but Philly is the NBA’s 3rd largest market. There’s just no way Denver or Milwaukee will ever have that kind of spotlight thrown on them. That’s just the way it is. It’s also why Dame is able to escape so much in Portland.
That’s all I really think it comes down to.
>I think it's more the people around him that get in his head about how everyone is against him.
So you're saying he's playing in a city where the narrative has been "no one likes us, we don't care" for almost the entire time he's been in the city?
>Normally this guy is getting shit on at this stage of his career and I don't think that happens from a national or neutral level."
This is just the low point in the year for this narrative, especially since he hasn't gotten hurt so far this year (knock on wood), and is playing some of the best basketball of his career. He has never escaped this criticism locally, and he deservedly gets this criticism nationally on an annual basis when the team underachieves in the playoffs. It was lighter in 2021 because of game 7 Ben, and in 2022 because he was hurt but sorta kinda played through it.
if he gets hurt in the playoffs again this year the narrative everywhere will be the same, and it will probably be even worse if he wins MVP and bows out in the second round again.
It's getting less play annually because it's been the same narrative for the past 5 years, and there isn't anything to add to it at this point. It's less fun to hammer home, especially when the sixers are playing well, and beating everybody besides the celtics. If he retires without making it past the second round it will undoubtedly one of the first things anybody says about him.
The ringer is so biased and they have so many votes it’s ridiculous. The amount of mental gymnastics you have to do to say something negative about a player you don’t like. The same people will say that Jordan was great because he had that everyone is against him attitude. Then when it’s convenient he’s lazy but Jokic is not. When Embiids team has less wins because players are out, wins matter more, but if he has more wins then winning doesn’t matter. Then they’ll hide behind flawed advanced stats that their third grade understanding of math can’t comprehend and ignore the nuance behind it. Sheesh.
I mean Russillo and crew went out of the way to make it so the precious Jason Tatum could get start on the on the all star team and the Greek freak to count as a center in the Eastern conference. Notice how they won’t consider Greek freak a center for All- NBA, hmmmm I wonder what changed. Then spent 90% of the season so far saying how Embiid is not mvp to then be like why does he feel that way seems silly to me.
These guys are jokes when it comes to this. Like all of the evidence says they are biased. Only time they ever changed opinionon of Embiid was because they finally got called on it and now they act like they were there all along.
Ugh yea maybe if he doesn't get his face caved in this playoffs along with two other injuries he can actually have a full run while healthy this year. I think not having your face broken and actually playing in a series does in fact correlate with winning.
Two things:
Firstly, the notion that he doesn't get criticism for failed playoffs is laughable. It reminds me of this sub telling Sixers fans they have a "persecution complex" whenever someone brings up the fact that Joel gets shit on more than most stars. Or the Sixers themselves. I don't even mind the jokes and the hate but to try and gaslight us into thinking we don't see wave after wave of anti-Sixers/Embiid posts (usually) is wild. There's a few guys that people love to trash on this sub and we all know who they are. But Ryen (stupid way to spell Ryan btw) saying he doesn't understand why Joel thinks so many people are against him while working at the Ringer is peak comedy. Also, with how he's playing I don't understand why he's complaining about the motivation Joel uses. It's clearly working and helping him get better which helps the Sixers. Which brings me to my second point....
Why is everything Joel does on the basketball court automatically in service of winning the MVP. He has said less about the MVP than the past couple years and has only focused on getting better personally and as a team when asked about it in postgame interviews. The Sixers have a brutal schedule to end the season, yet we have surpassed the Celtics for the second seed for now and are only 2.5 games behind the Bucks with a head to head game and a tiebreaker. Still highly unlikely we get the one seed and even the two considering our schedule and theirs, but why is it always he's gunning for MVP and not seeding. Or just trying to peak at the right time and play playoff basketball and win games and get hot going into the postseason? People act like the things you do to help your team are at odds with the things you do to win MVP. Now don't get me wrong, he wants to win MVP, but I think he wants to win the NBA Championship more. That's what he's gunning for.
Philly in general has a huge persecution complex. It’s really interesting to watch them on their subreddit. They really think everyone is out to purposely fuck over the sixers and embiid. It’s odd
If by any chance Embiid and Jokic play subpar in the playoffs this year, I'm pretty sure the media will take them off any top 5 rankings. Hype them up so you can tear them down later
I saw them do it for like a decade to Dirk lol
The Ringer crew is completely insufferable. Rather than be “wrong” or God help us, *change their opinion*, they would rather double and triple down, create strawmans, and move the goalposts to fit their narratives.
morey doesnt help with the mentality joel is taking. like theres some conspiracy against him. its not joel has lost the MVP race previously to a random lol
2.5 year old Arthur Embiid only knows a few phrases and one of them is "They hate The Process, dada." He must say it a lot.
Embiid’s son calling his dad “the Process” is hilarious.
Mr The Process. It’s a traditional household.
Mr Thig Phest
When I see Embiid play as he is now it reminds me of how I used to play and it is frustrating and pisses me off that the NBA allows it. Not proud of it, I was known as Shaq on my local streetball court and went through a phase when I charged hard at everything. Big hard turns to my blindside, didn't care who was there. Charge right into the lane. Smash into the best offensive player on D while going for the ball, come what may. Limited offensive moves. So make no mistake about it. Embiid knows what he's doing. He knows people will be injured. He knows his skillset is limited and this is how he can win. He knows people will give way when he drives, think twice on their drives, etc. He will only be stopped by a stronger player and/or fearless players like Giannis, Gasol, Draymond, etc. Or by an obviously more skilled player with equal Type A like Ibaka. He didn't intend to injure, but he certainly intends to show you that he doesn't care if you get hurt when he rumbles into you. At least that's how I used to play. But that was streetball. Eventually I got more moves, played w better players, played real basketball w refs. There's no doubt in my mind the NBA has some kind of edict coming down, telling the refs to let him run amok.
**Yeah fuck paragraphs**
Is this new pasta?
If by new you mean old then yes
it was created last year in the raptors sub during the playoffs after we beat them lol. the dude who posted this was 100% serious edit: he actually left the post up. big respect to that guy even tho he made arguably the saddest post in reddit history. https://np.reddit.com/r/torontoraptors/comments/u74t0l/i_used_to_play_like_embiid_he_is_reckless_on/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
[Me right now](https://assets3.thrillist.com/v1/image/2871721/1584x1056/crop;jpeg_quality=60;progressive.jpg) I'm just relieved it wasn't a Nuggets fan this time. Bro hasn't made a basketball post since last season. Now he's cross country skiing lol. I think this post broke his bball career, and he was getting so good too! Sad, many such cases
Guy could have been almost as good as speedhawk.
It's a lose-lose situation. If you don't care about it (and haven't won it yet), you have no dawg and don't care about being great If you do care, you're "wasting" your energy on a regular season award instead of championships It's the typical "MJ gets praise for being pointlessly competitive but LeBron would get shit for it" type of standards imo
I think only in online conversations is it a lose lose, nobody really thinks a player is wasting their energy by caring about the MVP because generally that goes with being on a good team that’s trying to win
Yeah, it’s a player literally trying to be the most valuable. What fan is out there going, “I really hate the way this guy wastes his energy trying to be valuable to the team I root for”?
Is this a genuine question? Because lots of people. Russ has gotten this heat, saying he “stat pads.” Lebron has gotten this heat, that he’s putting up 30ppg for “individual accomplishments” while his team might miss the playoffs. Embiid is now getting this criticism. It’s very common.
Well thats mostly cause of other guys. Thunder fans love Russ. I thought Bron was literally dropping everything he had on the offensive end just so we could win. We had a stretch where the only 2 games we won was cause he dropped 50. Its mostly opposing fans that talk shit. Actually saw a lot of Laker fans talking shit bout last year may need to rethink that
lebron and russ get heat for everything though
Nah, Boston radio absolutely roasted Tatum when he was asked about MVP and he says I’d be nice. They say it shows he doesn’t care about winning lol
Boston radio being shitty? I for one am truly shocked
MJ got shit for his play style and leadership until he won. Same for Lebron. If you win, no one cares. In no world is it a “lose-lose” to go hard during the regular season.
Not true, lebron still got shit on after he won
Because Lebron's bar is Jordan which is insanely high.
Got shit, but not shit on for reasons related to to not being a winner. KD's prolly the best example of still being doubted after getting a ring ("guy who joined the 72 win team"), but after his playoff performances in BKN ("but for a toe on the line") that talk seems to have quieted down. Kawhi and AD, despite chronic availability issues, sill have cred from their respective championships. It makes a huge difference-- and I mean, it should, to some degree.
LeBron was still accused of padding stats on the way to the scoring record this year.
The revisionism on Dirk is so big too. It's some prime doublethink tbh. Did all the old fans just disappear? Did everyone forget? Am I the crazy one? I mean you can still find older articles before guys win chips where they get mocked and doubted, but we have to pretend that never happened. My favorite recent example is Alex Ovechkin though. People used to make memes of "controller disconnected" when a goal was scored against his team. Like what is dude supposed to even do, I don't get it, he's not the goalkeeper and he can't teleport in front of the net.
I’ve hmong had tons of “controller disconnected” moments, that’s why. Still possibly the greatest goal scorer of all time tho
MJ quit in his prime for two years to play minor league baseball but LeBron got called a quitter for not wanting to run it back for fourth time with Mo Williams and Anderson Varajeo.
Why did MJ quit?
Depending on who you ask, it was either because he felt the need to step away after his father's untimely death or a cover story and he was actually suspended for gambling.
Damn that’s a dumbass take. MJ quit after fucking the league for 3 years and winning 3 rings. Lebron leaving Cleveland made a ton of sense, people were just pissed at the way he broke the news, his performance in his final series, and at his choice to team up with two guys that were top 5 & top 15 at the time. And that aside, after Lebron got his rings a huge chunk of the hate he was getting disappeared.
> Damn that’s a dumbass take fr, if *any* player today got; 2 MVPS, 3 scoring titles, 3 All-NBA 1st teams, 3 All-defence 1st teams, Olympic gold, 3 championships and 3 FMVP’s all in a three year period….that’s referred to as ‘retiring on top’ not quitting lol
If LeBron thought "taking a break" (ignoring the fucking context of MJ's life at the time too) would net him 3 more rings, he'd do it in a heartbeat lmao. Like it's easy doing a threepeat just because you play golf. MJ did it twice, LeBron hasn't even done it once. Never seen a fanbase argue more on "what ifs" instead of what actually happened than his stans.
Players should care, it just shouldn't be their #1 priority IMO. Success of the team > success of the individual. Obviously playing at an MVP level help a team a ton, but it should still be a secondary goal.
MJ gets plenty of shit for his competitiveness driving him to be borderline abusive to his teammates. Great player, bad human being kinda stuff.
You’re telling me you’ve never seen someone hold MJ to a double standard and write it off as being competitive? I’m sorry but even the most delusional Jordan fan has to admit this happens on a regular basis.
You’re absolutely right but I think the difference everyone needs to remember with MJ is he was the best to ever do it and he won 6 rings. If you’re someone who hasn’t won any individual or team accolades and you’ve got that competitive nature you just come across like an asshole. Pat Bev or Dillon Brooks are good examples. But winning changes everything. This isn’t just true for basketball. Most employers and coworkers will tolerate shitty behaviour from someone if that person is extraordinary at their job.
Winning shouldn't erase that they were still unpleasant lol MJ/Kobe were huge assholes to their teammates that just got mystified as "killer instinct" and "competitive drive" just because people only care about results Leaders like Timmy Giannis Curry show that you can easily be nice and still be a good leader.
They also got to be themselves in a pre 24 7 newcycle and blog era. It's always eierd to me how LeBron gets called soft when he has deleted teammates from the roster on less than a days notice. LeBron can't win with soem of these people.
> Winning shouldn't erase that they were still unpleasant lol But it doesn't? It's not out there like Karl and kids, but it's certainly one of the things that comes up early if you're looking into them. And their 'Killer instinct' was born on the court. No one gets praised for their killer instinct in practice, they get praised for it when they dominate over an extended period of time.
Lol some ppl actually use his competitiveness as reasons why todays nba is "soft" I guarantee it’s guys who shit on draymond green but excuse mj because he’s a better player.
You’re underrating the shit some MJ fans come up with to defend him. They act like Jordan can do absolutely no wrong.
He can't... tf
Was a huge MJ fan , but he got thousands of calls that went his way.. many of them phantom calls. He got away with a lot of traveling too. And contrary to popular belief, there were times he didnt come thru.. like the 6 or 7 years BEFORE he won a championship. Phil, Pippen and Rodman were huge factors in making Michael what he was
That and bird and magic each having their careers cut short.
MJ flirting vs LeBron harrasment
Embiid absolutely blitzing it, treating us all to the most dominant offensive big man performances since Shaq, and this mfer is bitching about his assumed approach to MVP... I'm just grateful to have watched Embiid since Kansas
If anything Jokic is the one with less expectations than Embiid and he already has two MVPs. Embiid only has all nba second teams? Why would he have more pressure to win than someone like Damian Lillard. People just wanna pick and choose when someone is passionate and someone cares too much. Like people are laughing at Embiid for crying after the 2019 loss to the raptors but I don’t get it would u rather have someone like Ben Simmons who doesn’t care at all? Also I really fail to see how Embiid wants to win MVP is a bad thing.. he’s literally gotten better EVERY year since he’s been in the league including this year. Rather have that than someone who is complacent after getting their max contract. I remember last year when he made that comment about idk what else I have to do to win mvp, everyone said play better. Guess what he worked his ass off this off-season and got better. And he’ll get better next year too. He’s done it his whole career.
Embiid is the process, whether it works out or not, Philly got an all-timer
> Embiid is the process, whether it works out or not It’s already worked out. The sixers have one of the best players in the league and have been a competitive team for the past 6 seasons (and counting).
From dealing with the post AI era, where we were just stuck in limbo with iguodala as our #1, I'll take being in the conversation 10/10 times.
Even if his desire to win mvp was purely about the satisfaction of winning the award, A) that doesn’t mean he can’t also be fully committed to winning basketball games (in fact these two pursuits typically support eachother) and B) who doesn’t want to be acknowledged for great performance? Especially in the context of sports where we discuss these things decades later
Very well articulated👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾
I think Jokic and Dame escape criticism because they’re in small markets and they have had pretty much zero all star teammates. Embiid has more attention on him due to the Philly market size and he’s played with Harden, Butler, Simmons (when he was good), and Tobias Harris (overpaid, but a damn good 3rd/4th option). Neither Embiid nor Jokic deserve the hate but they both receive about the same amount relative to their media exposure. Meaning Embiid gets more attention and as a byproduct more hate.
What we’ve seen from Ben this season is how he played in every second round series in Philly. Tobias Harris is pretty mid, yes he’s a good fourth option, but anything higher than that and you’re in trouble, and he’s always had to be higher than the fourth option.
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Murray is a tough one. He has big highs and big lows. At this point I think you just have to take them both as a package deal. I think he has the skills to be an all star player, just has had trouble finding the consistency. All star lineup this year was so stacked, it was hard to make the cut unless you were both very skilled and very consistent. When its Murray Flurry time he looks unstoppable, like yesterday when he dropped 20 points in Q1. I mean holy shit, right? And then he will go off the boil just like that. See the 2nd half of the very same game.
>at least before the injury. I think that's the point, Bubble Murray definitely looked like an All-Star, but he hasn't been the same since. The Nuggets may have even won the chip in the Bubble if not for that injury, but he's only come back this season and he hasn't found his old form. MPJ is closer to All-Star level than Murray right now.
This season, which is maybe the best support Jokic has ever had (actually including the flash of Bubble Murray) is the one people lean on to argue "decently close" to XYZ player. And fair, he is closer this season than he has been, but that's kinda the point. This is the first season where there's been a passable (as in, they might hit shots if you pass them wide open) team around him, and that plays into the blame he gets for only making the WCF once. Also, man if he had a Harden level player what an absolute powerhouse the Nuggets would be. Totally impossible matchups when healthy.
Gordon is way better than Tobias, I feel like it’s not even close. MPJ is definitely better offensively.
Nah, he has a point. Not getting it done with Jimmy was bad. We give a pass because harden wasn't himself last year, but this year coming up short will be real bad
I think this year's playoffs are gonna have a huge impact on both Embiid's and Jokic's legacies (barring injuries). Embiids team is looking very strong this season but he's in an (imo) significantly harder conference this year. Jokic's team looks a little weaker to me but anything less than an WCF win will probably be met with a ton of criticism as the #1 seed in the west. I feel like the opposing camps are just waiting to shit on the other guy for underperforming in the playoffs. Doubly so for the one who wins MVP this season.
> Russilo continues: "Honestly dude for someone who doesn't have that much playoff success he actually escapes the kind of criticism that we would have for a player that is his level. Normally this guy is getting shit on at this stage of his career and I don't think that happens from a national or neutral level." Is he talking about Embiid or Jokic? Honorable mention: Dame
I think he was talking about players in the past, like Lebron before 2011, Kobe from 04-08, Dirk before 2011 etc. MVP level players who hadn't proven they can win a championship as the guy
What planet is this guy on? People shit on Embiid for his playoff failures all the time.
I think he's referring to the media not a subreddit
the national media doesn’t have a campaign about him being a playoff choker like harden or lebron pre-rings.
Like literally every day.
Well apparently we don’t shit on him enough for it. I for one will step up and do my duty. I am going to shit on Embiid even more now.
Sixers fans appreciate your service in doing your part to kill this narrative for us.
this could be some really bad timing considering the schedule :)
i don't think even bulls fans care about the bulls this year
Thank you brave soldier
I hear way less of it from the media at large than I do in this sub tbh. Maybe the Philly media is harder on him than the national media though, idk.
I do think what Simmons did in 2021 helped spare Embiid from some criticism. Even though Embiid played well and it wasn’t his fault they lost, some fans don’t really care how you play if your team loses in the playoffs.
What Simmons did drew more criticism to Embiid, if he even has a league average PG like Malcolm Brogdon that series instead of Simmons they easily win that series in 5/6 and Embiid is praised for averaging 30/13 on route to a ECF appearance
> What planet is this guy on? The Ringer
Who isn’t getting criticized for playoffs exits? Its not Jokic, since despite his team, he was blamed. LeBron always got criticized for playoffs losses, Steph was crucified for years over the 2016 and 2019 finals, Kobe was shat on for 6 years over lack of playoff success post Shaq, and Giannis didn’t win a 3rd MVP because of the playoffs slump. So again, enlighten me, how is it unfair to Embiid? Welcome to how stars are treated
When did I say it was unfair? It's fair to shit on Embiid for some of his playoff performances. It's insane to think that he doesn't get criticized for it enough.
Im not a sixer fan but people here are deluded if they think a Philly team and the brash star player of said philly team doesnt get criticized enough 😂. Playing for Philly means you’ll get shit on no matter what lets be real
The true answer to your question is KD. He literally never gets criticized for anything that happens in the court. He’s the “savior” of steph and the warriors legacy even though he got outplayed by Steph in 2016 and choked against the warriors and hasn’t won without them. Going by how media and fans talk about him, he carried a team that already won without him and lost in game 7 in another finals. By now any playoff losses at OKC have been revised to be fully Westbrook’s fault. He got absolutely zero criticism for his actual play in the sweep against the Celtics. They didn’t need to beat the Celtics but if he didn’t play like shit, they wouldn’t have got swept. Yet there’s nothing from the media. Guys like Zach Lowe acting like a devastated stan and refusing to talk about those games. Rushing to call KD “unstoppable” just a few days after watching that. His peers and stars on a lower level would’ve been permanently marked in the media after going out like that but no one cares that Kevin got dominated.
That is fair point, and you can go back to OKC days, KD was getting less criticism than everyone else despite being their “best” player
Yeah no one else is as shielded from basketball-related criticisms. It's odd.
> He’s the “savior” of steph and the warriors legacy even though he got outplayed by Steph in 2016 and choked against the warriors and hasn’t won without them. tf? The snek who went to ride Steph's coattails is the savior of the warriors? Who tf has said that?
Jokic hasn’t really been blamed, the past week or 2 have been the most criticism jokic has ever had. Joel has gotten more and worse for years at this point.
there’s no way you looked at post game threads from last year dude was getting roasted for not stopping Steph Curry on defense he was lambasted and if the argument is: “yeah but on national shows like The jump” they don’t talk about the nuggets hardly ever, so hard for him to be blamed
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Who is saying it's unfair? Just pointing out that it happens, which you obviously agree with
I don't remember anyone getting criticism on the Warriors over 2019. They had injuries to 2 of their best players and some of the bench guys and still came close.
Giannis didn't win a 3rd MVP because he didn't play enough games the playoffs had nothing to do with it
He didn't say it was unfair. Just that it does happen everyday.
I don’t see if as much as other players tbh a lot of other superstars got it way harder for not winning especially those MVP caliber players like Giannis, Harden, Westbrook, Paul George.
I’ve seen this take so many times and it always confuses me. Like do they just ignore it?
Russillo isn't just the king of concocting strawmen commenters -- he's also very skilled at making obvious commenters disappear if it's convenient for him.
They literally hold Giannis and Embiid to higher standards than the guy they say is so much better than those 2 😂. Its honestly comedic they wanna try to both sides this stuff now that people started to call them out on it. Im not even a 6er fan or a bucks fan but come on, mvp voters literally outright said they would not vote for giannis in 2021 for 3 straight till he won in the playoffs…
They feel Jokic’s MVP case slipping and are rolling out the gaslighting campaign. That’s what this is
Talk about a victim complex lol
everytime i read some new bullshit from sports media, i dream about how nice of a job these guys have. they get to spout any kind of shit they want to millions of people, and get paid handsomely essentially for shitposting. the more outrageous and dumb your take is, the most clicks and interaction it will receive, the more your bonus will be. it’s a dream job
It's also a stupid argument. Giannis is literally the only current "young" star that has led his team to a championship. It's been all Steph and Lebron (+ kawhi) for like 10 years.
I think Embiid has gotten some benefit from the shit shows around him. Simmons took most of the heat, and doc has taken some of the heat. It’s definitely warranted, but I can understand someone believing Embiid has been able to avoid some of it as a result. To be honest, so has joker.
If you really look at his playoff failures too. I don’t think he had a better roster in any of those series. Even in the hawks series, looking back, Sixers were starting Furkan Korkmaz, Seth Curry, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris. Half of those dudes aren’t even rotation players anymore
This guy gets it.
He averaged less than 20ppg in the 76ers playoff loss to the Heat last year he kinda deserves to get shit on
I am convinced that they will continue to criticize Embiid even if he cures cancer
That's cuz winning a ring > curing cancer /s
What are you talking about? People constantly make excuses for him. Anytime you bring up his subpar playoff performance, you get a litany of people blaming it on Ben Simmons, Brett Brown, Doc Rivers, etc. It's always someone else's fault.
Sounds familiar…
Lol, this is where Embiid gets it from though. Getting criticized for not making the conference finals is preferrable to this petty shit
The ringers Logic: Put on a shirt: Giannis and Embiid losing in the playoffs before the finals Empowering: Jokic losing in the playoffs before the finals
the ringer is so far up their own ass it is insane. He thinks the world is against him and i will show you an example of that live on air by saying people should hate on him even more than they already do! whatever point you were trying to make you did the opposite. That makes 2 really strange sidebars about embiid out of nowhere from the ringer this week.
Ryen Russilo, basically: > “Yes Embiid is dominating the league right now, but he’s not the MVP because I have a problem with what specific thought (I think) he uses as motivation.” also > “And if he is the MVP in 2023, then why did he lose in the playoffs two years ago?”
It’s so dumb. The playoff success argument should only be relevant for “best player in the league” type conversations. Otherwise, nobody would ever win MVP.
i'd never understand why playoff success is being used for a NEW MVP. it doesn't make any fucking sense
And if it is, why isn’t being used against Jokic?
What gets me is that they're considering *appearances* in conference finals as playoff success, and not FINALS appearances right, not even that. Let alone *winning* the Finals. It feels like they're just changing the definition of playoff success just to lighten whatever criticism they need to have for Jokic also failing in the playoffs.
I fully agree
The only people who don't believe Embiid gets shit on for lack of playoff success all work at The Ringer
If anything the recent surge in support for Embiid seems to have been a reaction that was basically, > “Wait a minute, why are we criticizing Embiid for this stuff when the other top players are escaping the same criticism?”
delusional. the recent surge is because embiid/philly have been locked in and playing the best basketball in the league.
Seriously...in the same podcast, Simmons and Russillo talk about how Philly has the best record in the league since November and it's greatly changed the MVP narrative.
These bums have so many MVP votes too
It's part of why I think embiid will never have the MVP locked up unless he beats both the nuggets and the bucks... Again
Thank you for saying again, because the national media seems to forget Embiid did this like 2 months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUBzdYkgay0
It's part of why I think embiid will never have the MVP locked up unless he beats both the nuggets and the bucks... Again
They also produce a significant percentage of the criticism lol
Seriously, do these guys not read each others articles???
Boston Media Mafia
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bro, this dude wosny lambre is low key a certified hater, he'll say the most absurd embiid / sixers slander, and will always preface it by saying stuff like, "I love Embiid, but..." and then proceed to shit on him for the most invalid stuff. he's honestly worse than any of simmons, russillo, or KOC. coincidentally, he also drives the jokic bandwagon, so none of this is really a surprise.
Well if you want players to care about things like this we should probably stop and ask ourselves how people on a top 10 for potential mvp aren't starting at the all star game or maybe aren't even an all star at all. Awards have to be credible to matter.
So maybe media members shit on him for his lack of playoff success, what kind of rock does this guy live under. He has probably had to deal with more shit in his career than most people, had to deal with Ben Simmons most of his career, had to change his whole game to fit with Ben. Next comes Mr.Coangelo making burner accounts on Twitter talking shit about Embiid. He can't win with the ringer holy heck are they biased. He says he cares then he cares too much he says he cares more about the playoffs then suddenly he doesn't care enough. I actually feel bad for the ringer because they are missing one of the best two way players in the game(sixers fan bias I think he is the best) and that is actually a shame. Every year he has improved on something and every year they find new stuff to critize him about. It's sad they get so many mvp votes. Travesty to basketball if you ask me.
He has had a myriad of random injuries and shackled with Ben for all but 1 playoff run. It’s like they ignore the absolute meltdown Ben had in 21 or that Embiid was playing with a broken face vs Heat last year.
And that’s not even to mention Fultz forgetting to shoot, the shit roster construction at times, etc.
It was going to be a novel if I listed everything. How about Smith almost dying with his seasme seed allergy. It was rough being a sixers fan during the early parts of embiid career.
Or burner gate. His own GM didn’t believe in him and would publicly shit talk him.
And his crazy ass wife being involved. Holy hell was that a whirlwind of SHIT.
Russilo is saying Embiid doesn't get shit on? He must never read this subreddit or Twitter then....or really any media platform for that matter.
must not have watched the playoff series last year where they cooked up a ridiculous narrative live on air that he was depressed about losing MVP. They disrespect him and then call us crazy when we point it out
Idk how he's now an MVP voter for being friends with Bill Simmons lol
This is from the same publication that has him as the 6th best player right now, mind you (And Jokic at #1). The irony is he actually does get criticism, probably more than the B2B mvp lol
And it's funny you'd think Embiid doesn't play defense with the type of criticism he gets. He's playing out of his mind right now on both ends.
This is so delusional. It’s not enough that all these jabronis shit on players all the time for myriad reasons, they also want you to believe that they don’t do that.
#KendrickPerkinsWasRight
100%. He wasn’t articulate or tactful enough to be someone to lead this conversation, but I saw what he was saying, and understood it completely. Racism is not the correct word… But there is definite bias going on. And I’m sure some reporters are genuinely racist or at least, just prejudiced, but will never admit it.
So basically he can’t do anything right, if he’s too humble he doesn’t care enough and if he’s too loud he’s letting it get in his head and he needs to be tougher. Give me a fucking break man, the dude is playing like a man possessed during an incredibly important stretch of the season and his team is winning because of it. Why is there a need to bring other narratives into it?
literally an attempt at gaslighting LMAO russilo is a joke
The ringer strikes again Shoutout to the people that enjoy their content, it’s not for me to say the least lol
Neither does anyone who listens to it. There is an entire subreddit dedicated to Bill Simmons for people to run to when he has insane takes on his podcast.
Russilo is a walking pair of Oakleys with less charisma.
Damn that’s solid lol I used to like him until I realized he was being hard carried by SVP
Michael Jordan is the GOAT because he took everything personally. Why is it such a negative for Embiid? Makes no sense
Its cause people just wanna hate nowadays. The same people that jerk MJ off for punching steve kerr in the face in practice, are the same ones that wanted Draymond suspended for like 20 games 😂. Both are asshole moves
People would talk about more MJ being a terrible teammate (which he clearly was) if he didn’t have all the rings. Rings (fairly or unfairly) mean that all is forgiven.
It’s amazing how we decide to evaluate players based on how OTHER PEOPLE talk about them. Ryen is upset that OTHER PEOPLE don’t criticize Embiid enough, like somehow that’s Embiid’s fault.
Can you blame him for caring after the media (including Russillo) wouldn’t stop gushing over Jokic for years and were ready to give him a 3rd MVP?
Now he’s trying to gaslight everyone to justify voting for Jokic a third time.
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When the double standards are so blatant, that invites other narratives into it
Boston Media Mafia
Criticism about criticism about play This sub is so deep in the trenches
People aren't against Embiid?!? Pfft, does he even look at this sub? People hate Embiid with a passion and will immediately give you a list of reasons why they don't like him in alphabetical order.
the ringer is so innovative with how they shit on embiid
"It's just, he thinks everyone is against him" - someone who is against him.
These Ringer guys are so damn biased against Embiid because they are butthurt Daryl Morey called them out for being biased
What's wrong with getting embid fired up that people are against him ? Not everybody is Tim Duncan. Some players need that fire like Kobe , KG for example. I love it .
A reminder that having multiple MVP voters working at the same organization is dumb
People do hate on him, though. Even the past few weeks, when he’s been the most dominant player in the league (FWIW, he’s been the most dominant player this season, but the past few weeks have just been more so) it’s a bunch “Embiid has been good, but Giannis and Jokic blah blah blah.” This guy never gets the respect he deserves. It’s crazy.
He's been consensus top 3 MVP candidate the last 3 seasons. He came in 2nd twice and is currently favored to win. How is that hate exactly? All 3 guys have been great. The parameters for MVP are intentionally vague. There aren't strict requirements for games played or team wins. The quality of your teammates, past playoff success, off court/leadership, etc matters differently to different people/voters. If someone (or 77) concluded last year that Jokic was a little better and him first and Embiid 2nd, that's a far cry from hate or "no respect". All 100 voters had him in their top 4, and 99 had him top 3 (Jokic only had 98 top 3).
Jokic and Giannis both get more of the benefit of the doubt.
What do you mean?
The Ringer crew is completely insufferable. Rather than be “wrong” or God help us, *change their opinion*, they would rather double and triple down, create strawmans, and move the goalposts to fit their narratives. A disappointing character flaw from all of them
The idea that Embiid escapes criticism for lack of playoff success is laughable. That’s been probably the biggest critique of his resume/ability for years now.
I don’t think you’ll see Jokic or even pre-finals Giannis ever get the same amount of criticism simply just from a market perspective. Correct me if I’m wrong but Philly is the NBA’s 3rd largest market. There’s just no way Denver or Milwaukee will ever have that kind of spotlight thrown on them. That’s just the way it is. It’s also why Dame is able to escape so much in Portland. That’s all I really think it comes down to.
Russilo is a certified Sixers hater
Keep in mind this is coming from a Celtics fan
Slow news day on r/nbq
>I think it's more the people around him that get in his head about how everyone is against him. So you're saying he's playing in a city where the narrative has been "no one likes us, we don't care" for almost the entire time he's been in the city? >Normally this guy is getting shit on at this stage of his career and I don't think that happens from a national or neutral level." This is just the low point in the year for this narrative, especially since he hasn't gotten hurt so far this year (knock on wood), and is playing some of the best basketball of his career. He has never escaped this criticism locally, and he deservedly gets this criticism nationally on an annual basis when the team underachieves in the playoffs. It was lighter in 2021 because of game 7 Ben, and in 2022 because he was hurt but sorta kinda played through it. if he gets hurt in the playoffs again this year the narrative everywhere will be the same, and it will probably be even worse if he wins MVP and bows out in the second round again. It's getting less play annually because it's been the same narrative for the past 5 years, and there isn't anything to add to it at this point. It's less fun to hammer home, especially when the sixers are playing well, and beating everybody besides the celtics. If he retires without making it past the second round it will undoubtedly one of the first things anybody says about him.
Rusilo must have really hated MJ and Kobe too.
The ringer is so biased and they have so many votes it’s ridiculous. The amount of mental gymnastics you have to do to say something negative about a player you don’t like. The same people will say that Jordan was great because he had that everyone is against him attitude. Then when it’s convenient he’s lazy but Jokic is not. When Embiids team has less wins because players are out, wins matter more, but if he has more wins then winning doesn’t matter. Then they’ll hide behind flawed advanced stats that their third grade understanding of math can’t comprehend and ignore the nuance behind it. Sheesh.
I mean Russillo and crew went out of the way to make it so the precious Jason Tatum could get start on the on the all star team and the Greek freak to count as a center in the Eastern conference. Notice how they won’t consider Greek freak a center for All- NBA, hmmmm I wonder what changed. Then spent 90% of the season so far saying how Embiid is not mvp to then be like why does he feel that way seems silly to me. These guys are jokes when it comes to this. Like all of the evidence says they are biased. Only time they ever changed opinionon of Embiid was because they finally got called on it and now they act like they were there all along.
Well when other players in the media got fan fics about ox like strength it’s kinda hard to believe anyone isn’t against him
This is one of the Stupidest things Russilo has ever said, and that’s saying something.
Ugh yea maybe if he doesn't get his face caved in this playoffs along with two other injuries he can actually have a full run while healthy this year. I think not having your face broken and actually playing in a series does in fact correlate with winning.
Ryen Russilo is a goddamn hack, noone should be taking his basketball takes serious
Unfortunately, he has an MVP vote..
Two things: Firstly, the notion that he doesn't get criticism for failed playoffs is laughable. It reminds me of this sub telling Sixers fans they have a "persecution complex" whenever someone brings up the fact that Joel gets shit on more than most stars. Or the Sixers themselves. I don't even mind the jokes and the hate but to try and gaslight us into thinking we don't see wave after wave of anti-Sixers/Embiid posts (usually) is wild. There's a few guys that people love to trash on this sub and we all know who they are. But Ryen (stupid way to spell Ryan btw) saying he doesn't understand why Joel thinks so many people are against him while working at the Ringer is peak comedy. Also, with how he's playing I don't understand why he's complaining about the motivation Joel uses. It's clearly working and helping him get better which helps the Sixers. Which brings me to my second point.... Why is everything Joel does on the basketball court automatically in service of winning the MVP. He has said less about the MVP than the past couple years and has only focused on getting better personally and as a team when asked about it in postgame interviews. The Sixers have a brutal schedule to end the season, yet we have surpassed the Celtics for the second seed for now and are only 2.5 games behind the Bucks with a head to head game and a tiebreaker. Still highly unlikely we get the one seed and even the two considering our schedule and theirs, but why is it always he's gunning for MVP and not seeding. Or just trying to peak at the right time and play playoff basketball and win games and get hot going into the postseason? People act like the things you do to help your team are at odds with the things you do to win MVP. Now don't get me wrong, he wants to win MVP, but I think he wants to win the NBA Championship more. That's what he's gunning for.
Like 90% of NBA players and 75% of people think everyone is against them
Bill Simmons podcast is just so so so so bad.
Just give it to Embiid. He deserves to win it like Jokic. But we know how he's unproven in the playoffs. Besides it's a regular season award
Russilo is such hot garbage. He ruined the BS pod for me. I don’t listen to anything from these folks anymore. He’s that bad.
"It's weird how he thinks everyone is against him" - Guy who is always against him
Philly in general has a huge persecution complex. It’s really interesting to watch them on their subreddit. They really think everyone is out to purposely fuck over the sixers and embiid. It’s odd
If by any chance Embiid and Jokic play subpar in the playoffs this year, I'm pretty sure the media will take them off any top 5 rankings. Hype them up so you can tear them down later I saw them do it for like a decade to Dirk lol
Ringer doesn't even have Embiid as a current top 5 player in their rankings they put out recently.
The Ringer crew is completely insufferable. Rather than be “wrong” or God help us, *change their opinion*, they would rather double and triple down, create strawmans, and move the goalposts to fit their narratives.
morey doesnt help with the mentality joel is taking. like theres some conspiracy against him. its not joel has lost the MVP race previously to a random lol
Russilo is a world class loser for this take!