Eddie House questions Joel Embiid’s lofty praise of Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Joel Embiid was very complimentary of the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night — a little too complimentary, if you ask one former NBA player.
After the Boston Celtics defeated Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers 117-107 on the road despite missing two starters in Jaylen Brown (illness) and Kristaps Porzingis (knee), the reigning NBA MVP was asked if his team was impacted by playing two games in two nights against the high-powered Indiana Pacers and talented Celtics.
“I mean, you could say that, but we’re professional athletes. That’s the schedule; you just gotta do it,” Embiid said. “But yeah, tough. Especially playing Indiana twice and then on a back-to-back, playing the best team in the league, it’s tough. But no excuse.”
Yes, that’s Embiid calling the Celtics the best team in the NBA, despite both teams entering Wednesday’s matchup with 8-2 records.
Embiid’s praise of Boston didn’t sit well with former Celtics guard and NBC Sports Boston analyst Eddie House.
“Damn all that. I can’t believe that he sat there and said the Celtics are the best team (in the NBA),” House said Wednesday night on Celtics Postgame Live, as seen in the video player above. “We say that, we believe that, but you are the MVP, you are the leader of the (team). I don’t know what message that sends throughout (the locker room).”
House did leave open the possibility that Embiid was trolling; the Sixers big man has a long history of playing mind games with his opponents (and his social media followers), so maybe he was just trying to pump the Celtics’ tires in the short term before getting payback the next time the teams meet.
But House said he still wouldn’t be thrilled with Embiid’s comments if he was his teammate.
“I don’t know if it’s trolling — because he’s high-class troll for sure, if you’ve ever seen some of his tweets and how he gets down on social media — or is it something that he really believes in? I don’t know,” House said.
“I don’t think that I ever have played with somebody who would have bowed out like that and said, ‘Man, yeah, that’s the best team right there.’ Nobody’s gonna say that. They’re gonna say, ‘Man, we got beat by a good team.’
“But for him to crown (the Celtics) the best team right now? Oh man. We might be seeing the Sixers go on a little skid.”
Philly was 8-1 before dropping games to Indiana and Boston and looks like a much better team since trading away James Harden. With Tyrese Maxey emerging as an All-Star-caliber complement to Embiid, the Sixers should be a top-three team in the Eastern Conference this season, even if they hit a few bumps in the road.
The Celtics still seem to have their number, however, winning four of their last six regular-season games against their East rival and winning six straight playoff series over Philly dating to 1982. That “rivalry” will resume very soon, as Boston hosts the Sixers at TD Garden on Dec. 1.
