Knicks legend Charles Oakley blasts 76ers star Joel Embiid ahead of crucial Game 5 in New York: ‘Too big to be crying’
- Joel Embiid missed Tuesday’s shootaround with a migraine ahead of Game 5
- The Philadelphia 76ers enter the game trailing the Knicks 3-1
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Knicks legend Charles Oakley has attacked Joel Embiid following the 76ers star’s struggles during Philadelphia’s payoff series against New York.
Embiid missed Tuesday’s shootaround with a migraine attack ahead of a crucial Game 5 for Philadelphia, which enters the game trailing 3-1.
The 30-year-old scored an impressive 50 points in Game 3 but otherwise struggled in the opening round and was already questionable for Tuesday night’s game due to treatment for left knee injuries.
Despite previously predicting that Embiid could be an all-time great player, Oakley, who played most of his 19 season in the NBA with the New York Knicks, walked back his claims.
“Everyone’s saying he’s hurt,” Oakley said Tuesday on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s “The Starting Lineup” show, via the New York Post.
Knicks legend Charles Oakley (right) grabbed Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid (left)
The 30-year-old scored an impressive 50 points in Game 3 but has struggled otherwise
Oakley, 60, played most of his 19 season in the NBA with the New York Knicks
“If you get hurt, stay home and watch it on TV like everyone else does. I don’t want to hear this: “I’m giving it my all.” You’re a 7-footer shooting 3s. I mean, you stand out around the three-point line, what are the guards going to do?
“So I think they cry too much. All these guys in the league cry too much. He’s too big to cry.
“I’m sorry I said two years ago that he could be the next Wilt Chamberlain. Don’t know. He could be the next Dunkin Donut, or someone else, because all he does is cry.”
Last week, Embiid was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis that he said was having an impact even before this season’s play-in tournament.
Embiid wore sunglasses onstage after his 50 points in the Sixers’ Game 3 win over the New York Knicks last Thursday night and said he was dealing with several symptoms, including blurred vision and dry eyes.
He revealed that he first started noticing the condition about a “day or two” before the Sixers played the Miami Heat in the play-in tournament on April 17. Embiid had 23 points and 15 rebounds in the win that sent the Sixers to the playoffs.