One big man to another, Shaq slaps a reality check on Joel Embiid. The Philadelphia 76ers center can’t get involved in any more controversies this season, dealing with injury management criticisms and off-court drama. Tonight, he has come under the fire once again. This time, it’s Shaquille O’Neal, who rarely minces words gave a sobering thought to the Cameroonian amid his much-awaited return to the floor after six months!

Tonight, the Sixers took on the NY Knicks in the NBA Cup opener. In an already rivalry-induced clash, Embiid’s comeback made it even more special. However, the big man wasn’t at his best, attempting only 3 shots in the first half and missed all of them. In response to the first-half performance, Shaq went off in the halftime show alongside the Inside Guys.

“This is the fear I have for Joel Embiid. You announce arrogantly, ‘I’m not playing back-to-back. I’m not injured. I’m sore. I come in when I want to come back.’ Now when you say things like that, you’re supposed to come back with extra energy,” said the Lakers legend. Shaq further added, “0-3  (FG), I would have been 0-15 (FG), you know what they’d say, ‘Hey, Shaq is not playing well but he is aggressive’… I say this respectfully Joel Embiid will never win a championship until he gets his mind and his attitude right.” 

Almost every player in the league wants to win a chip. It’s the ultimate prize everyone’s playing for and Shaq denied it to a man who hasn’t gone past the Conference semis in his 8-season-long career.

Notably, we aren’t sure whether Joel Embiid made the ‘back-to-back’ statement arrogantly, but we are sure that Embiid isn’t happy with the constant criticism surrounding his injury break. Let’s find out more about it!

Joel Embiid vents out his frustration amidst a wave of criticism surrounding his injuries

It’s not just Shaq who went after Joel Embiid, questioning his fitness and injury breaks. In fact, the Philly fans themselves went after the big man. While Embiid remained calm all this time, recently opened up, hitting back at his naysayers.

The Cameroonian baller said, “If your body doesn’t react well, and if your body tells you one thing (sit out). I’ve done it. From what I can tell you, I’ve broken my face twice, I came back early with the risk of losing my vision. I have broken fingers. I still came back. When I see people say he doesn’t want to play, I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that.” 

Now that he had returned to the floor, everyone expected him to come back with a commanding performance, just like Shaq anticipated. Embiid not only fumbled in the first half, he didn’t show much in the second half as well. He ended the game with 13 points (2-11 FG) further adding fuel to Shaq’s words. Will Shaq’s words come true? Let us know in the comments.