Joel Embiid just won an NBA MVP award in the 2022-23 season, but that's not enough to fill the void on his resume. The Philadelphia 76ers big man is still chasing an NBA title, and that desire can be detected in the words he said in an interview on stage with Maverick Carter during last Thursday's UNINTERRUPTED Film Festival at NeueHouse Hollywood.
“I just wanna win a championship. Whatever it takes. I don’t know where that’s gonna be,” Joel Embiid said. “Whether it’s in Philly or anywhere else. I just wanna have a chance to accomplish that. I wanna see what it feels like to win that first one and think about the next one. It’s not easy, but it takes more than one or two or three guys.”
The operative phrase there is “anywhere else.” Although Joel Embiid is definitely still committed to the Sixers, it's quite a bold proclamation for someone like Embiid to drop a hint, inadvertently or not, about dreaming of playing for another team. The Sixers still have a James Harden saga to deal with in the offseason and having Embiid profess some form of fantasy about potentially leaving the City of Brotherly Love is not something that will sit right with Philly fans.
Embiid and the Sixers are about to open a new chapter following a disappointing second-round exit in the 2023 NBA Playoffs at the hands of the Boston Celtics. The Sixers have hired Nick Nurse as the team's new head coach, but it remains to be seen whether he will be the answer to Philadelphia's playoff woes.