Joel Embiid believes injuries keep him from being among the GOATs: ‘I think I’m that talented’

Joel Embiid believes injuries keep him from being among the GOATs: ‘I think I’m that talented’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Joel Embiid has done quite a bit in his NBA career to this point. When you consider that he didn’t pick up the game until he was 15 years old, it’s nothing short of miraculous.

Along with his achievement and accolades, he has also had more than his fair share of bad luck. He sat out his first two seasons following the NBA Draft due to injury. On top of that, he has missed 204 games – nearly three entire seasons – because he was not healthy.

These days, fans and pundits throw around GOAT conversations – which player or players could be considered the Great Of All Time. LeBron vs. Michael, Brady vs. Everyone, Prince vs. Michael Jackson (it’s Prince). Embiid was asked in an interview with the New York Times whether he would be in those conversations if it weren’t for his myriad of injuries.

“I think so. I think I’m that talented,” Embiid said. “Obviously you need to win championships, and to win championships you need other guys. You can’t do it by yourself. I want to win so bad. But if you don’t, you just got to understand that as long as you care about the right stuff, if it doesn’t happen, maybe it wasn’t meant to happen.”

“If you think about it, the thing that stopped me all these years is just freak injuries. Every single playoffs, regular season, people falling on my knee or breaking my face — twice. It’s always freak injuries at the wrong time.”

Is he right? Could Embiid be considered among the GOATs if he stayed relatively healthy throughout his career?

Well, yes and no.

For what he has already done to this point in his career, at age 30, you could argue that Embiid doesn’t need to do any more to be a Hall of Fame player:

He won an MVP award, and finished second in the voting twice. And if he didn’t hurt his knee this past season, he was likely top two yet again, if not the front runner. Only five other centers have won multiple MVP awards.

Two scoring titles, a feat only surpassed by nine players in NBA history. Again, he was…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/joel-embiid-believes-injuries-keep-151722224.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-07-22 15:17:22

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