Kblaze8855
07-20-2024, 03:47 PM
New York Times interview I thought was a joke at first
As part of an interview on The Daily with David Marchese (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/magazine/joel-embiid-interview.html) of the New York Times, Embiid agreed with the premise that he could have been viewed as a GOAT candidate had he been healthier over the course of his career even though he has yet to win an NBA championship or reach the Eastern Conference Finals:
"I think so," he said. "I think I'm that talented. Obviously you need to win championships, and to win championships you need other guys. You can't do it by yourself. I want to win so bad. But if you don't, you just got to understand that as long as you care about the right stuff, if it doesn't happen, maybe it wasn't meant to happen."
Embiid went on to add that "freak injuries" have held him back over the years, saying: "If you think about it, the thing that stopped me all these years is just freak injuries. Every single playoffs, regular season, people falling on my knee or breaking my face—twice. It's always freak injuries at the wrong time."
When informed by the interviewer that his stance would likely be a source of great debate in sports media, Embiid stood firm, saying: "That's OK because that's the truth. I mean, you think about what I've been able to accomplish and what has been taken away because of injuries. There's a lot of what-ifs, but if you combine collectively and individually, you can make the case of being up there."
As part of an interview on The Daily with David Marchese (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/magazine/joel-embiid-interview.html) of the New York Times, Embiid agreed with the premise that he could have been viewed as a GOAT candidate had he been healthier over the course of his career even though he has yet to win an NBA championship or reach the Eastern Conference Finals:
"I think so," he said. "I think I'm that talented. Obviously you need to win championships, and to win championships you need other guys. You can't do it by yourself. I want to win so bad. But if you don't, you just got to understand that as long as you care about the right stuff, if it doesn't happen, maybe it wasn't meant to happen."
Embiid went on to add that "freak injuries" have held him back over the years, saying: "If you think about it, the thing that stopped me all these years is just freak injuries. Every single playoffs, regular season, people falling on my knee or breaking my face—twice. It's always freak injuries at the wrong time."
When informed by the interviewer that his stance would likely be a source of great debate in sports media, Embiid stood firm, saying: "That's OK because that's the truth. I mean, you think about what I've been able to accomplish and what has been taken away because of injuries. There's a lot of what-ifs, but if you combine collectively and individually, you can make the case of being up there."