Tuesday night on Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley announced Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid as the recipient of the 2023 National Basketball Association’s Most Valuable Player Award, and it was a moment long in the making.
Since his debut in 2016, Embiid has been one of the most effective players in the league, but he is not sure he would have reached that point without the candid assessments given to him by Barkley and his colleague Shaquille O’Neal. Embiid won the award with 73 of 100 first place votes, with Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo receiving the other 27.
“You guys were all on me about, ‘I’ve got to be dominant,’” Embiid said on Inside the NBA. “To this day, I still remember that conversation and that helped a lot and that changed a lot when it came to the way I went about my business, so thank you.”
Embiid had received criticism in December 2019 from Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, both implicating that Embiid was a “soft” player while facing the Bucks and Antetokounmpo. They expressed their opinions during that night’s halftime show and did not hold back, prompting host Ernie Johnson to define the criticism as “harsh.”
“You’re playing S-O-F-capital T,” O’Neal said at the time. “When you go 1 for 10, it ain’t your coaches fault; it ain’t your teammates fault. It’s your fault, period.”
“The Sixers’ biggest problem is they don’t have a leader,” added Barkley. “When I got to the NBA, I was fat and lazy, and thank goodness I met Moses Malone. I said, ‘Moses, why am I not getting to play?’ He said, ‘Because you’re fat and lazy.’ He made me lose 50 pounds to get in shape.”
A few nights later, Embiid returned to the court and scored 38 points with 13 rebounds and six assists in the 76ers’ 115-109 win over the Celtics. Following the game, Embiid participated in a postgame interview with the Inside the NBA crew and received effusive praise from both O’Neal and Barkley.
“When you’re a great player – and you are a great player – you have to set the tone for your team every single night,” Barkley said. “….I just need you to lead this team every single night. I’m going to stay on you – I know you get mad at me sometimes – but I’m going to stay on you because you’ve got a chance to be the best player in the world.”
Ironically enough, the 76ers are currently battling the Celtics in a playoff series where Embiid missed Game 1 due to a knee sprain. According to senior lead NBA insider for The Athletic and Stadium Shams Charania, Embiid intends to make his return tonight for Game 2 in Boston.
