Knicks legend Charles Oakley has ripped into Joel Embiid after the 76ers star’s struggles during Philadelphia’s payoff series against New York.
Embiid missed Tuesday’s shootaround with a migraine ahead of a crucial Game 5 for Philadelphia, who enters the clash with a 3-1 deficit.
The 30-year-old put up an impressive 50 points in Game 3 but has otherwise struggled throughout the opening round and was already questionable for Tuesday night’s game with left knee injury management.
Despite previously predicting Embiid could be an all-time great, Oakley, who played the majority of his 19 season in the NBA with the New York Knicks, backtracked on his claims.
‘Everybody says he’s hurt,’ Oakley said Tuesday on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s ‘The Starting Lineup’ show, via the New York Post.
Knicks legend Charles Oakley (right) has ripped into Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid (left)
The 30-year-old put up an impressive 50 points in Game 3 but has otherwise struggled
Oakley, 60, played the majority of his 19 season in the NBA with the New York Knicks
‘If you’re hurt, stay home and watch it on TV like everybody else is doing. I don’t want hear this, “I’m giving it my all.” You’re a seven-footer shooting 3s. I mean, you stand out around the 3-point line what the guards gonna do?
‘So I think that, you know, they cry too much. All these guys in the league cry too much. He’s too big to be crying.
‘I’m sorry I said about two years ago, he could be the next Wilt Chamberlain. I don’t know. He could be the next Dunkin Donut or somebody because he just cry.’
Last week, Embiid was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before this season’s play-in tournament.
Embiid wore sunglasses to the podium after his 50 points in the Sixers’ Game 3 win over the New York Knicks last Thursday night and said he’s dealt with various symptoms such as blurred vision and dry eyes.
He revealed he first started noticing the affliction about a ‘day or two’ before the Sixers played the Miami Heat on April 17 in the play-in tournament. Embiid had 23 points and 15 rebounds in the win that sent the Sixers to the playoffs.
