Embiid ‘not going to push anything’ for return, Clippers a contender with Beal? | FIRST THINGS FIRST

Embiid ‘not going to push anything’ for return, Clippers a contender with Beal? | FIRST THINGS FIRST

Welcome back to First Things First. Doun Atenoy of ESPN dropped a massive profile on Joel Embiid. Lots to get into, including the fact that Embiid is not going to rush back to the court. Article writing, “We’re not going to push anything. For my whole career, I felt like we never took that approach. We don’t have a timeline. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I don’t know how they feel. The only thing I’d say is this is a business. It’s all about results. If I come back early enough and I’m still not myself, guess what? you’re not winning any games. Brew, your reaction to this timeline and the article overall? Well, the article overall was great. Uh, it was incredibly indepth and you got a good feel for Embiid and really he was came off very likable, you know, which he has to me like I’ve always liked him from afar. Um, and it’s just sad and unfortunate because he just hasn’t been able to be healthy. He’s never played 70 games in a season. like never even hit 70. And the thing is, you don’t get he’s 31, he’s will be entering his 10th season playing, but his 13th season in the league, you don’t get healthier at that point, right? And so it’s unfortunate because as great as he’s been, like he there’s no telling what he could have been had he had he just not had these health issues. And when I say health issues, it’s the knee, the back, the face, the shoulder, the hip, the foot, the ankle, the foot. Like he has had every injury you could imagine as a basketball player. And so I mean, he is the greatest shooting center, like legitimate center ever. It used to be Patrick Euing. Embiid is phenomenal in the mid-range. And so it’s a bit sad that we I’m I’m glad you know you think about guys like Greg Odin and you’re glad that we’ve seen what we have that he’s able to even play this much. But it’s just unfortunate. But as far as the timetable, I’m just I’m I’m I’m over like I have no to me Joel Embiid is in the Kawhi Leonard class where I don’t expect anything. Like I honestly I I hate to even say this. I feel like he’s gonna play 30 something games, be great in those 30some games, but so that’s about it. Like I just don’t expect anything anymore from him. It’s not solely his fault. It’s the injuries, but I I don’t think he’ll get So I want to healthy for a moment just talk about how at his apex great he really has been. And it’s not like it’s years ago, you know? I I mean it is literally a couple years ago, but I mean it’s not like, you know what I mean? A lifetime ago. Uh when he was drafted, the thought process was he is going to be a transformational defensive presence. And then by the time we got to his prime, he was setting breaking Shaquille O’Neal records for points per game in the modern era by a center. He averaged more than a point a minute for, you know what I mean, a stretch of time. He was a scoring champ and a 30 plus per game guy as a center, which really since Shaq we have not seen. And while being a great defensive player, maybe not quite the defensive player they thought he was going to be coming out of college, but he was 10x the offensive player they thought he was going to be. And obviously the story of his career has been injuries that have cost him games and then also nagging stuff that has prevented him, in my opinion, from being his best in the playoffs. Agree. Right. Some of it might like that’s the question. Is it is it a mental and I think it’s but I think there’s been a lot of physical stuff. So here’s the question I have especially when we’re he’s talking about I like that they’re not going to push it. We’ve never seen I shouldn’t say never. Not to my recollection and I tried to look it up. I spent probably more time I should have today before the show trying to find a comp of this. Why would a player or a team not say, “Listen, man, it sucks, but you probably only have 50 awesome games in you, and we need 20 of those in the playoffs.” So, your season starts Christmas time. You know what I mean? If even if I’m talking about a year from now, fully healthy, you know, not recovering, starts Christmas time, and you’re going to kind of be on the Roger Clemens as a Yankee SK. Was it Astro? Astro. Roger Clemens has an Astro schedule where it’s like we’re going to plot out which games you’re playing and you’re not. I I think people would be like, “You can’t do that.” But if we know that like if you have ever had like a a older family member that like has like, you know, can be really locked in for 90 minutes. Yeah. You don’t bring them to the party when it starts, you know, like. And so you you you recognize, hey, reality is the reality. We want to get the most out of it. I just feel like that has to be not only the plan, but embraced. Didn’t the Clippers do that with Kawhai to some degree, right? To some. Exactly. Still didn’t work. It didn’t, but it but it was but it and I don’t know if the Clippers did that with Kawhi or Kawhai did that with the Clippers. You know what I mean? But I just think I think we’re kidding ourselves if we’re like, “No, next year it’ll be different from Joel.” You know what I mean? And I think it’s unfair. He gets I He He talked about this like has he he has felt pressure and didn’t feel, you know, like they I just think that’s the reality. I also think it’s not out. He’s if anyone’s ever been around Embiid, I know all NBA guys are huge. He is enormous and he’s he’s 72. He’s thick. Like I just it’s not shocking that his lower body it’s hard to support all that and then it becomes this thing suffers a lower body injury. So then you can’t do the training and the cardio stuff you need to so while you’re recovering you put on weight. You know what I mean? And then it Right. And so it just it it’s self-fulfilling. So do you think that’s a I I totally get it in theory and it should work and baseball pitchers is the best parallel. Yeah. But if you throw seven innings and then the next day you’re like, I need an inning out of you. Like I literally can’t. I will my fast ball will go from 95 to high 78 and my attendant might pop out. I think the challenge with that if everyone by you need Philly media to buy in, you need national media buy in. like, hey, this is a huge game for us and it’s Jokic and we’re going to Denver and you know that’s like a big story, but you’re scheduled to be and it’s it starts to fall apart. No, but my point is but but you know this you know the schedule. You know the schedule like you know what I mean? Like you’re off period. Well, to be honest, unfortunately there aren’t like that many big huge regular season NBA games anymore. Like I think what Nick is saying, you pay play 25 regular season games and then hopefully 20 or more playoff games. It makes sense. Especially the only the only avenue now to me the the the downfalls are one the chemistry with your teammates. Yeah. All right. Does that you know you coming in stepping in you could miss the playoff your seeding your record and how good like like you say couldn’t be would he gain weight while he’s not playing even though he’s working out you’re still not simulating but I just think basketball especially now that he has the league MVP like the career like you like the individual accomplishments he’s got him so you would you know he wouldn’t he’d never make another all-star team he’d never make another AllNBA who cares he’ll never play enough games probably right for all star he could but all NBA probably not like I just I just think that he is he won league MVP and I know it was controversial but it was deserving and then he came back the next year and was better and was averaging more than a point a minute and so that guy is there a healthy Joel Embiid like when we talk about the best players in the league he was grandfathered in to that you know what I mean it was Giannis Joic You know what I mean? With Luca and Shay. So, I don’t know. That’s that’s what I would do personally. Uh, switch coast. Head out to LA where Bradley Beal’s agent is optimistic that we’re going to see the best from Bradley, telling Shams, “If you have Brad Beal on your team, you have to let him be Brad Beal. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. You’re not getting the best version of him.” Brew, I understand. That’s what I think is going to happen with the Clippers. Now, I just inserted you into the quote. I understand that quote. I I do. And that I get now why Bill went to the Lakers. I said the other day, I’m sorry, the Clippers. I said the other day he should have gone to the Lakers. And my thinking was you have no chance of winning a championship with the Clippers. Now I like on paper they’re starting Harden, Beal, Kawhai, Zubach, and John Collins, Derek White Jr., whoever. That’s a nice starting five. And then they got a little bit of depth. So like on pay I’m they’re almost the team version of Embiid to me. Like I I just don’t think it’s going to work out in the playoffs largely because of Kawawaii. I just don’t think you can count on him in the playoffs. So I think they have essentially zero chance of winning the West. Lakers I think you would have had a better chance for that. But to be Brad Beal Lakers he is the fourth option at best. he might be the fifth or sixth option. Like he would probably come off the bench. And so I just think if he wants to shine individually, that might be a better move. But I do think Milwaukee is a place you would have had a a better shot, you know, maybe winning in the East and you could have been Brad. Like they would have needed you. The weird thing about Milwaukee that people forget, it’s not in Los Angeles. the thing we is it’s in Milwaukee because if it was strictly do do you agree if it was strictly I want to cook I want to cook and win and potentially win Milwaukee and here’s the thing I don’t know that’s going to be the starting lineup brew because last year the Clippers were a great defensive team and a lot of that was Chris Dunn and I and I know Tyoo you know what I mean like what and if I were if it were 2K and you don’t have to worry about the personalities be like Brad Beal giving us a scoring punch off the bench, you know what I mean? Running the bench unit, you know what I mean? Those things that to me makes a lot more sense and that way I don’t have a be hardened back court that defensively is really like, you know, and so I would I’d rather start done. I might have Beal and John Collins both come off the bench. You know what I mean? like that’s the but that quote doesn’t no lend to that that that would be okay and so um I I think that people talk about players that get bought out and very often do that you know and I’ve done it at 50 million is no good but at 5 million is a bargain yes and no because often you’re getting bought out for some other reasons as well and like Brad Beal. It also was he to my eye did not care last year and was, you know what I mean? There was couldn’t be Brad, right? And so yeah, and it seemed right he they weren’t winning. He couldn’t be himself. He didn’t like the coach and was just like punted the year. I I worry about that for any team that brings him in. I think Golden State would have been a better place, too. Milwaukee or Golden State, I think, would have been a better option. Golden State’s interesting, right? Because he would have got his shots. Yes. I mean, Golden State, I hadn’t thought about them as a fit. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music]

An article came out discussing Joel Embiid’s highs and lows at the NBA level, and he said that he’s “not going to push anything” regarding his return from injury. Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes discuss Embiid’s history and what his future might look like in the NBA. Plus, they ask if Bradley Beal makes the Los Angeles Clippers a contender.

#FirstThingsFirst #NBA #Clippers

Download the FOX Sports App: https://tinyurl.com/y4uouolb

► Breakfast Ball’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastBallonFS1
► First Things First’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstThingsFirst
► SPEAK’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpeakOnFS1
► The Facility’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFacilityonFS1
► All Facts No Brakes with Keyshawn Johnson YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AllFactsPod

About First Things First:
Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes team up on First Things First. The trio offers their take on a bevy of sports stories alongside special guests from across the sports world.

Embiid ‘not going to push anything’ for return, Clippers a contender with Beal? | FIRST THINGS FIRST
www.youtube.com/@FirstThingsFirst