Playing in his third straight All-Star game, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid felt firsthand how different and special the 2020 NBA All-Star Game was compared to recent iterations. The Sixers' Cameroonian star even went as far as claiming that this year's midseason spectacle was the best one in history.
“Tough loss, but to me it was probably the best All-Star Game ever. Everyone competed,” he said postgame, per a clip from SportsCenter.
“Tough loss, but to me it was probably the best All-Star Game ever. Everyone competed.”
—@JoelEmbiid pic.twitter.com/IM8ZgE6cAt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 17, 2020
The Sixers center does say a lot of outrageous things on social media, but it seems that he is on point on this one.
Apart from winning cash prizes for a charity of their choice, both Team LeBron and Team Giannis were determined to put on a good show to pay tribute to the fallen basketball icon Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other victims of the tragic helicopter crash that rocked the world last month.
The Sixers All-Star has been chastised by pundits year after year for players' supposed lax effort and overall non-competitiveness of each game. With a brand new format in tow, this year's gathering of the league's best superstars was indeed a breath of fresh air.
Players actually cared enough to play defense and even complained to officials like it was a playoff game, while both coaches were actually setting plays and calling timeouts.
Embiid, meanwhile, brought his A-Game for team Giannis, dropping 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 boards. He was even caught chomping away at Team LeBron's Anthony Davis, as The Brow was set to take his game-winning free-throws.
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