Joel Embiid Might Be Fighting an Unwinnable Battle

The Sixers big man is leaving it all on the floor, and it could be naught.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Embiid had less-than-ideal body language after his Philadelphia 76ers were stunned by the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. It's incredibly easy to understand why he may feel a bit defeated. The Sixers failed to capitalize on two chances to steal a win at Madison Square Garden and now must win four of the next five in order to keep their season alive. Embiid is playing through what has to be significant pain on his surgically repaired left knee and yet has found a way to live up to his high billing in back-to-back games for no tangible gain. In Game 2 he gutted it out for 39 minutes, scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while looking like someone's dad who should probably get a cart even if they're playing nine holes. This was on the heels of a 29-point performance in Game 1.

Because Embiid's grittiness has come in defeats, it'll be lost to history of Philadelphia fails to pull a 180 and win this series. And that's really a damn shame because he's getting the absolute maximum out of a body that's nowhere near fully functional. He's sacrificing for his team because he desperately wants to be out there and start to finally change the narrative that's haunted him his entire career — that he cannot be out there when it matters or win when it most counts. Ultimately, it's more than likely going to be in vain. Which he has to know. Which his teammates also have to know, deep down, behind all the desperate self-belief.

So that's why it's maddening to see him criticized for slumped shoulders and a hung head in the wake of what will probably be a back-breaking loss.

“What I’d like to see from Joel, he’s gotta get his head up,” Charles Barkley said on TNT's postgame show. “Because he's the leader of the team. He’s the best player, he’s one of the best players in the world…As a leader of the team, he cannot have his head down. He’s got to say, ‘Guys, we’re fine. They did what they were supposed to do. We’re gonna go home and win Game 3 and 4.”

On its surface that's good advice. Much easier said in principle than practice, though, when someone's body and soul is in such tumult. It's also a bit confusing because Embiid eventual said this: "We're good. We're going to win this series." Perhaps he said it with the weight of the world on his shoulders and maybe it wasn't convincing but it's the thing critics wanted him to say. He went throught the required motions and did what a leader is supposed to do, albeit not with as much spirit as some would have liked.

There's an open question about what an impact Embiid's words and body language have. The Sixers players understand the challenge. They want to win. And they know it's going to be super hard considering Embiid's limitations and the possibility his body doesn't hold up of this series lasts another four or five games. But they also should realize that what Embiid is doing on the court is of far more importance — and there's no debate that he's adding value and fighting alongside his teammates even against serious obstacles.

Also, even though Embiid did eventually get to the magic phrase, it's not like failing to convey that message through the media postgame is his only opportunity to share it internally with the team. The Sixers had to make it back to Philadelphia and will be practicing before Game 3 on Thursday night. Maybe whatever he says behind closed doors will have more of an impact because it's not being received in the fog of defeat.

The point is, it sure seems like too many people are being unfairly critical of a player who is doing the thing fans beg their star players to do. Especially when he kind of did the thing anyway. Embiid has cultivated a reputation where some aren't going to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to being a warrior or a leader. So maybe he's fighting a losing battle.

At least he's fighting.