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For years now, fans of the Philadelphia 76ers have demanded that the team’s front office surround Joel Embiid with A-list talent.
They have said that if this happens, the Sixers could go all the way to the Finals.
Those pleas were repeated again last season as the 76ers again came up short in the playoffs.
But ESPN’s Frank Isola is putting the blame on someone other than the front office: Embiid.
“It gets completely forgotten that he’s the guy that failed in the playoffs and somehow it’s everyone else’s fault,” Isola said on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
Isola claimed that the reigning MVP should have stepped up during the playoffs, especially in their series against the Boston Celtics.
“Those two games called for the MVP of the league to perform like the MVP of the league. That didn’t happen,” Isola stated.
"They have talent there."@TheFrankIsola on the future of the Philadelphia 76ers pic.twitter.com/kHGqRViR3o
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 25, 2023
Embiid definitely had a season to remember, for both good and bad reasons.
He averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds a game during the regular season and was finally able to claim his first MVP trophy because of that.
Things got rockier in the postseason, as they always do for the Sixers.
It was then that Embiid suffered another injury and saw his point output drop to 23.7 per game.
His field goal percentage also sank from 54.8% to 43.1%.
Once again, Philadelphia wasn’t able to fight hard all the way to the Finals.
And, once again, fans were crying on the team to shake things up in the summer.
Sure enough, the front office fired head coach Doc Rivers and more changes could be coming.
Isola and others believe that there is enough talent around Embiid right now to reach their goals.
They claim that it’s not the situation around Embiid that has to change, but Embiid himself.
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