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Are the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors on a collision course in the NBA Finals? Joel Embiid thinks so. Or at least he did prior to Stephen Curry’s unfortunate left foot sprain.
Embiid made a recent appearance on The Draymond Green Show where he dished on a variety of topics. The Sixers’ big man went into great detail about the James Harden trade and admitted the team was trying to “get on the same page.”
“James has been great. I think we have a chance to maybe meet you guys in the Finals,” Embiid told Green who nodded in agreement. “But we got a long way to go. We’re not where we’re supposed [to be]. We got a lot of things that we got to correct, whether it’s defensively and then offensively trying to make sure that we’re all succeeding and all that stuff. Ultimately, we got a couple of games to really get on the same page and we’ll be fine.”
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Embiid, Green Engage in Friendly Trash Talk
Embiid also threw some not-so-subtle shade at Green for asking for help on double teams when the Sixers and Warriors play each other. Here’s some playful banter from that exchange:
Green: I’m locking that s*** up.
Embiid: Whatever, that’s why you need a double team every time we play y’all.
Green: That’s crazy. I never asked for a double team, that’s not in my makeup.
Embiid: You double every single game we play against you.
Green: Hey, if you want to duck in like Shaq and you get two feet in the paint, the double team gonna come big fella, like at that point you got to go with what you know.
Embiid: If you’re saying that, you’re not that good of a defender. I never asked for a double team in my life.
Green: Me either.
The two continued to jaw when Embiid turned the topic to Curry. If he has to make a decision on one player to drop back in coverage on, it’s not going to be Green.
Embiid: If I’d rather make Stephen Curry or you beat us? I’ll take you every single day.
Green: Many have succumbed to that mindset, brother.
Kevin Durant Gets Kudos From Sixers Star
Harden’s decision to bail on Brooklyn baffled many in the know. Why would he want to break away from the superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving?
They had been favorites to win the title two years running until injuries and COVID-19 vaccine mandates expedited a divorce. That trio only played 16 total games together. Everyone has an opinion on what wrong, including Embiid.
“For all the stories you hear out there it’s completely different,” Embiid said of Harden. “Fun guy to be around, positive energy always since he got here. And, like you said, it’s about timing. Some situations are different than others. I don’t know what happened over there [in Brooklyn].”
One thing is clear: Embiid absolutely loves Durant. He provided a gushing tribute to all the ways the Nets star can impact a game. Embiid thinks Durant – “for his size and what he’s able to do on the floor” – is better than him.
“I always said that I really believe in myself as far as talent and what I can do on the basketball floor, especially skills when it comes to my size and all that stuff,” Embiid said. “If there’s one guy that I think for his size and what he’s able to do on the floor, that’s the one guy that I’m like, ‘Yea, he’s more talented than me’ because the guy is 7-feet tall and he can do everything on the basketball court even better than I can.”
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