Joel Embiid's horrible, no-good, very bad week

 

The National Basketball Association is the ultimate individual-focused team sport.

It is the team sport with the fewest starting players, a sport that showcases marvelous team play at times.

But when the NBA Playoffs turn into a grinding possession battle, it's about your star. Can your star be tougher, more clutch, and more productive than the opponent's star?

NBA history is filled with legends who passed this test, from Larry Bird to Michael Jordan to Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry today. 

Joel Embiid failed this test in a major way the past week. More than that, he regressed into an oblivious mass of denial that leads this fan to wonder if he will ever play one minute of conference finals basketball -- let alone be fitted for a gaudy champion's ring.

A Boston-Philadelphia series that began with destiny calling -- a Game One victory, on the road, while Embiid rested -- descended into a nightmare of shrinking superstars, self-denial and finally, a full on-court Roberto Duran-like 'No mas' lay down.

To be sure, there is a lot of blame beyond Embiid for this debacle. James Harden's schizophrenic output in the series defies description.

People smarter than me say Doc Rivers is a terrible big-game coach. Could be accurate.

But Joel Embiid is Superstar No. 1, the NBA scoring champ and Most Valuable Player. Joel has the most responsibility, is the franchise spokesman, and had the roster and an offense built around him and for him.

He asked for all of these things, and eagerly embraced being the face of The Process. A genial, fun-loving fellow, Joel could be the hero or the villain, as the moment dictated.

We naturally assumed that titles would follow. Embiid is perhaps the most physically skilled basketball player in the world. He has an Ohtani-like ability to be the best player on the court at every skill at a given moment.

But the titles didn't come. Disappointment persisted, with the Sixers getting bounced in the semifinals four of the last five years.

All of that was a distant memory with 4:24 remaining in Game Six Thursday night. Holding an 83-81 lead in front of a manic home crowd, the Sixers were going to win and advance. Nobody watching this scene unfold had any doubt about the outcome.

Instead, the Sixers were outscored 14-1 before a meaningless final bucket from a bench player. Embiid did not touch the ball after missing a 19-footer with 3:53 remaining.

The weak responses continued in the postgame presser.

"I didn't touch the ball at all," Embiid told reporters.

There are two reasons why that is just about the worst thing The Star can say at that moment. For starters, it sounds like you're evading accountability, which I think Embiid was doing. So much for leadership.

Secondly, it at least half sounds like you're tossing your teammates under the SEPTA bus, which I do not think he was doing. Still, I am sure some of those guys heard one or both of these messages and did not like it. It's a foxhole, right?

Everything that happened after 10 p.m. Thursday night landed like repeated grenades on the Joel Embiid Era. Forget Game Seven. After what happened Thursday, they had no chance to win in Boston.

I have questions. I wonder if Joel was exhausted, a Game Four issue that drew a PJ Tucker on-court rebuke:

Most of all, I just want to know why Embiid did not demand the ball? During the final five minutes Thursday, the Sixers looked hopelessly lost and disorganized. The entire nine years since Joel Embiid was drafted were leading to this moment, when he would stand up and deliver a victory. Instead, he drifted into the background, then whined about it afterward.

Dennis Johnson tells a story about the time Celtics' head coach KC Jones was having trouble drawing up a last-second play that would decide a close game. Finally, an exasperated Bird piped up and said, "Just give me the ball, coach, and the rest of you fucking guys get out of the way."

This is not Joel Embiid. Am I being overly dramatic here? I don't think so:

I like Joel Embiid. I genuinely do. But his career arc has stalled and regressed significantly in the past four days. This was his time, this was the Sixers' time, and the last person who seemed to realize it was Joel Embiid himself. That's not good.

And for the first time, Joel seems to be losing the Philadelphia fan. Thousands voted in a WIP poll today asking who deserves more blame: Embiid, Harden or Doc. Joel leads with 72%.

It feels like a crossroads of sorts.

Where do the Sixers go from here?

For the first time since The Process began a decade ago, the Sixers enter the off-season with no obvious path closer to a title.

Harden is probably gone. Rivers might be, too. I guess the obvious strategy is to rebuild around your star.

I guess.

But what do you do when the one thing you need from your leader is to lead?