Former NBA veteran Marcus Morris had some critical comments about one of the many superstars he played alongside. Morris spent one season with the Philadelphia 76ers and got to play with MVP center Joel Embiid. The new media role for Morris sees him sharing his perspectives on his time in the league and what he feels about active players today.
“Just coming from different teams and seeing people at that level work as hard as they did but not really seeing him do the same” Morris said. “Like, it kind of threw me off because his production still matched. He had 70 last year, bro. He did not f**ing warm up. Like, literally he did not warm up.”
Embiid’s reputation is known for the positive of dominating whenever he’s healthy and the negative of not being healthy nearly enough for the 76ers to contend. Morris wanted to make it clear that he praised Embiid’s talent for being able to score a historic 70-point feat without warming up. However, the bigger comment is that Embiid doesn’t work as hard as the other superstars Morris played with.
Morris’ Exposed Biggest Criticism Of Embiid
Morris spending over thirteen years in the league led to him getting play with Embiid and many other greats. Names like Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kawhi Leonard, and Donovan Mitchell all had stints on the same roster as Morris. The retired NBA veteran made it clear that he was used to seeing the top stars provide full effort and work hard to set the standard.
Embiid not doing the same made Morris look at him a little differently until he started performing on the court. Morris even gave Embiid some credit by saying his confidence in his talent level means that he isn’t always practicing hard or warming up. Unfortunately, the 76ers have not been able to reach the Eastern Conference Finals during the Embiid era.
Injuries and concerns over Embiid’s conditioning led to his reputation taking a hit. Embiid used to be argued as better than Nikola Jokic, but no one would realistically pick him as the top center today. There is a fear that the 76ers center will never be able to put it all together for a deep playoff run.
How Can Embiid Prove Morris Wrong?
Philadelphia is off to a great 3-0 start and appear ready to be an outside contender behind the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers in a limited Eastern Conference. However, Embiid has missed one of the three games and has a minute limitation due to his previous injury from last season and the most recent offseason.
The 76ers success has led to more talk about Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecomb looking like a dynamic starting backcourt. A lot of doubt for Embiid ever being among the best players in the league again is not a great sign, but he’s showing solid results in lesser minutes today.
Embiid must commit his all to the fitness and recovery side of things. Even if the center is not a 30-point scorer, he’ll give them valuable play and help compliment the other rising stars. Embiid must embrace that things like practice and putting his all into non-game activities may help improve his conditioning to get past Morris’ criticism.
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