Getty Sixers star Joel Embiid is the most clutch player in the NBA this season at 6.3 points per game.
Joel Embiid has gotten to the charity stripe 25 times over his last 74 minutes of playoff basketball. Not shocking or surprising since the MVP candidate led the entire NBA in free-throw attempts (11.8) and free throws made (9.6). He has a knack for drawing fouls, a learned “skill” that he takes great pride in.
Toronto Raptors fans don’t see it that way. They believe there is some league-wide conspiracy to anoint Embiid as the NBA’s next great big man, which includes blowing the whistle every time the Sixers’ star falls down. It’s a fun theory, albeit a far-fetched one not based in reality. Does Embiid act on some of those fouls? Absolutely. But that’s because his basketball intelligence is off the charts.
“Getting to the free-throw line is a skill. A lot of people call it flopping, but I’m physical. I’m going to create contact; guys are going to react, they’re going to put their hand out there,” Embiid told reporters in April 2021, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “If I catch them slipping, I’m going to get to the free-throw line. It’s not as easy as people think. It is a skill; not everybody can do it. You’ve got to have a high basketball IQ to be able to pull it off.”
JOEL EMBIID IS A FLOPPING FOUL MERCHANT 🤢🤮😡
FULL VIDEO ➡️ t.co/Mt929V9xbL
Nevertheless, Raptors fans — and Toronto coach Nick Nurse — see it as a form of legal cheating and blame the refs for allowing it. They even have come up with a controversial new nickname for Embiid. They call him “Foul Merchant.”
Embiid is a very good foul merchant and the Raps don’t have a good body to slow him down.
Sometimes, you just have to smile and laugh at the absurdity of it all. Remember when Pascal Siakam and Fred Van Vleet crashed down on Embiid and slapped him in the face in Game 2? That one was probably a foul.
“Embiid’s fouls are gifted, not earned”
“Embiid is a free throw merchant”
“Embiid doesn’t play basketball, he just baits for fouls”
The foul baiting, free throw merchant who doesn’t earn them:
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Amazing 3-Pointer Baffles Raptors Bench
Embiid scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds during the Sixers’ 112-97 win in Game 2. It was a masterful performance, none more skillful than his corner 3-pointer right in front of the Raptors bench. Embiid was double-teamed and looked dead to rights with the shot clock winding down, then the 7-footer spun around and launched a deep three that swished through the net. It was poetry in motion.
And the reaction from Toronto’s bench was priceless.
Joel Embiid took their souls 💀
Nick Nurse Vents About Guarding Embiid
Nick Nurse can argue and complain about foul calls until he’s blue in the face. It doesn’t really matter. The Raptors are going to have to figure out a way to stop Embiid and it starts by limiting his trips to the free-throw line. Nurse addressed that subject during his post-game press conference after Game 2.
“You know, he gets 31 on 12 for 14 from free throw [line]. I’ve got to look at the tape and see what we’ve gotta do to clean some of that stuff up,” Nurse said. “I’m encouraged because I felt like we started turning him over a little bit and he just about ‘turnovered’ a hand full of them, but it’s a pretty good night out there if we can maybe cut those free throws in half a little bit.”
James Harden and Joel Embiid Game 2 free throw breakdown? Bet
This is specifically made for Nick Nurse