76ers' Georges Niang Sounds Off on Joel Embiid Doubters

76ers veteran Georges Niang questions Joel Embiid's doubters after another big performance from the big man.

The Philadelphia 76ers seemed shocked to learn that their teammate Joel Embiid would not earn his sixth-straight All-Star starter nod. After cracking the top ten in the All-Star game for the last five years, Embiid was edged out by Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jayson Tatum this year.

Embiid will more than likely pick up his sixth All-Star nod, but the fact that he won’t do it as a starter boggles coaches, players, and fans. After the Sixers’ Saturday night matchup against the Denver Nuggets, Embiid’s veteran teammate Georges Niang questioned the big man’s doubters.

“He’s just the elite of the elite, and the fact he’s not getting respected is kind of aggravating,” said Niang. “The fact that he’s not an All-Star starter — what are we doing here? Like, the dude averages 33 and a half points. That’s not normal. He’s played a crap ton of games. We’re a top seed in the East. Like, what more do you want out of the guy? And then this performance. I mean, it just shows you he’s been remarkable.” 

Going into Saturday’s game against the Nuggets, Embiid averaged 33 points, ten rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two blocks. He’s been scoring at a career-high rate one season after being crowned the NBA’s scoring champion. He’s also drained field goals at a 53 percent rate through 35 games, which is a career-high as well.

In his first game since being left off of the All-Star’s starting lineup pool, Embiid put on a spectacular performance, scoring 47 points while coming down with 18 rebounds and producing five assists in a little under 38 minutes of action. Embiid’s performance helped the Sixers form a 126-119 comeback win over the Western Conference’s top-seeded Denver Nuggets.

Did Niang see a more motivated Embiid on Saturday, considering his latest snub?

“I don’t know,” Niang admitted. “But I know he wants to be the best and considered the best. The things that people look at, rather than, ‘Oh, you had a good season last year.’ Well, what was he? Was he First-Team? Was he an All-Star starter? Was he in the MVP conversation?’ This guy is an MVP candidate. He’s been an All-Star starter for five years in a row. Come on. What this guy is doing at seven-foot, I don’t know how much he weighs, but he’s a center doing this stuff. Like, step-back threes, come on. We need to get this right.” 

Many fans, players, and coaches, including Doc Rivers, question the All-Star selection format. While there isn’t anything anybody can do to change the results at this point, Embiid made it clear he’ll look to move on from the snub and just use it as motivation moving forward. So far, that plan has worked well for the big man and his team. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.