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The Philadelphia 76ers are set to open up their schedule for the 2024-25 NBA season on Wednesday night against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, but the top player on the Sixers has already drawn criticism for his recent announcement.
Joel Embiid recently announced that he doesn't foresee himself playing in back-to-back contests for the remainder of his career, via Sports Illustrated.
“If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career,” he said.
Soon afterward, NBA Hall of Famer and current analyst Charles Barkley pushed back on Embiid's comments, saying that outlook isn't indicative of a team leader and that it's something he never would have done during his own career, via the NBA on TNT.
“I was so disappointed in Joel Embiid saying he wasn't going to play back-to-back games,” Barkley said. “You're one of the three, four or five best players in the world. You cannot say as a leader of that team, ‘I'm not going to play certain games.' That's not the way to start the season.
“As the best player on that team, and a leader, I would never go into a season saying I'm not going to play back-to-back games. I thought that was a bad message.”
Fellow Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal agreed with Barkley, saying that the current NBA isn't overly physical.
“Not only that, it doesn't make sense,” O'Neal said. “The league isn't that physical for him to say that. He's a pick-and-popper, he's not a big guy. You don't get doubled, you don't get tripled, you don't get flagrant fouled. There's no reason to say ‘I'm not playing back-to-back.'”
Embiid will be unavailable for Wednesday's game against Milwaukee and also won't play Friday against the Toronto Raptors. He's already missed the entirety of the 76ers' exhibition schedule for what the team described as a knee injury; he was also limited to 39 games in 2023-24.
Ex-76er Charles Barkley is an outspoken critic of load management
Barkley has been an outspoken critic of the increasing trend of NBA players practicing “load management,” where players sit out games to preserve their health and prepare for key matchups later in the season and playoffs, via Sports Illustrated.
“I’m talking to the players, man. Forget the ownership, forget the fans, as a player, if you’re going to make $50 or 60 million a year to play basketball three or four days a week, play basketball, man,” Barkley said in October of 2023. “Now, if you’re injured, don’t play. But everybody’s hurt after the first two weeks of the season. Your leg's sore, your knee's sore. If you’re injured, I don’t want you to play.
“But the notion that, No. 1, bless these guys. If you’re making 30, 40, 50 million dollars to play basketball four days a week. Y’all have got the best shoes, you’ve got the best medical staff, you’ve got these guys sleeping in chambers, you’ve got ice baths.
Man, if you can play, shut the hell up and play.”
His criticism comes as the League has responded by implementing a new participation policy.
