Charles Barkley is talking about conditioning again. The Philadelphia 76ers are hopeful that Joel Embiid will return for the playoffs. But the question remains if he can contribute to the team at the same rate he previously did. On the other hand, Kawhi Leonard’s recent injury scare has got many nervous though he’s playing through these back spasms. However, Chuck is not willing to accept that both are in the same boat.

When Kenny “The Jet” Smith expressed his opinion during Inside the NBA that Embiid could make a difference to the Sixers in the playoffs, Chuck disagreed. So Kenny threw in the example of Kawhi Leonard recovering from an injury to lead the Clippers. But Barkley shut that down curtly with, “They’re different animals.”

Kenny, though, has a lot of faith in the reigning MVP. “Joel Embiid makes you a contender,” he says pretty much summarizing the Sixers’ eagerness. As much as Shaquille O’Neal loves Embiid, he, too, sounded skeptical of Kenny’s wishful thinking. Charles Barkley is on the same page.

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“He’s not gonna be in shape,” Chuck said about Embiid’s impending and possibly premature return. “He probably hadn’t been able to do any conditioning. He had surgery on his knee. He’s already a big guy. He hasn’t been able to do any conditioning.” Barkley is not saying one is better than the other. Nor is he saying that Embiid isn’t going to help the Sixers. He’s trying to not get his hopes up.

Charles Barkley can’t see the Sixers without The Process

No one has been more heartbroken than Chuck since Embiid was sidelined before the All-Star break. He was rooting for him to win MVP but when the Sixers initially announced his break, Barkley said, “The Sixers, without him, they might be a lottery team. That’s just how great he is.” While Shaq was disheartened too, Barkley said. “Man, I hope he’s not out an extended period of time… The Sixers got zero chance without him.”

Today, he said that his old team looked like the “Delaware Sixers” without Embiid. He’s, however, realistic that the pressure on Embiid is different from what Leonard has.

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Barkley previously called the Los Angeles Clippers the “scariest team in the West,” because they have The Klaw. He left the game and the arena midway on Tuesday due to back spasms. As Barkley said, he’s a different animal. He bounced back today, went 34 minutes, and scored 27 points to lead the Clippers 126-111 against the Bulls. Now that the comparison has been raised, what do you think are both Embiid’s and Leonard’s chances going forward?

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