Joel Embiid told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps he likely won’t play in back-to-back games for the remainder of his career. The Philadelphia 76ers star, who just turned 30 years old in March, has struggled with injuries throughout his career, and this season is no different.
The hope is that it will keep Embiid healthy enough for him to not miss time throughout the season and preserve his health for a playoff run. But Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal had plenty of thoughts about that decision.
“I was so disappointed in Joel Embiid saying he wasn’t going to play back-to-back games,” Barkley said on “NBA on TNT” prior to the Boston Celtics-New York Knicks season opener. “You’re one of the three, four or five best players in the world. You cannot say as a leader of that team, ‘I’m not going to play certain games.’ That’s not the way to start the season. As the best player on that team, and a leader, I would never go into a season saying I’m not going to play back-to-back games. I thought that was a bad message.”
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
O’Neal replied: “Not only that, it doesn’t make sense. The league isn’t that physical for him to say that. He’s a pick-and-popper, he’s not a big guy. You don’t get doubled, you don’t get tripled, you don’t get flagrant fouled. There’s no reason to say ‘I’m not playing back-to-back.’”
Embiid won’t play this week as the 76ers open their season due to a knee injury.
It will be interesting to see whether the plan to keep Embiid out of back-to-backs will work or if it will backfire on Philadelphia.
