After Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers suffered a surprising defeat on Tuesday that knocked them out of the NBA In-Season Tournament, fans on social media showed just how hard it is to be the league MVP and the unrealistic standard it can bring.
The Philadelphia 76ers and top star Joel Embiid deserve a lot of credit for what they have done so far this season. After a frustrating elimination in the NBA playoffs this Spring, the team had to deal with a lot of Summer drama created by unhappy star James Harden. His trade demand and issue with the organization’s general manager was a dark cloud that hovered over them for months.
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However, the team and the reigning NBA MVP rallied around new head coach Nick Nurse and have gotten off to a fantastic start in 2023 and are one of the top teams in our latest NBA power rankings. Nevertheless, the standard for a unit with one of the best players in the game is very high and some fans are always happy to kick elite stars while they are down after an off night.
- Joel Embiid stats (2023): 31.9 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 6.1 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.8 BPG
Social media bombards Joel Embiid and Philadelphia 76ers with hot takes after Tuesday’s loss
That is exactly what happened on Tuesday night when the 76ers suffered a surprising 122-119 defeat to a Cleveland Cavaliers team that was without top star Donovan Mitchell. Joel Embiid filled up the stat sheet in the loss as he posted 32 points, 13 boards, five assists, five blocks, and two steals.
However, he struggled at times against Cleveland’s frontcourt combo of Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Tristan Thompson as he only connected on nine of his 21 shots and accounted for nearly half of Philadelphia’s 15 turnovers. What made the defeat all the more noticeable is that it likely eliminated them from this year’s inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
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That latter fact is probably why some fans took to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday night to bash Joel Embiid and his team for a surprise loss that would have gotten far less attention this time last year. And some of the hot takes were unrealistic and harsh about the six-time All-Star especially when he missed a key shot late after the team battled back from a big deficit earlier in the game.