Joel Embiid Passes Sixers Legend With Dominant Showing vs. Wizards
Despite having an injury scare against the Atlanta Hawks, Joel Embiid was in the lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday. He put together another dominant outing against the Washington Wizards that allowed him to pass a franchise legend in the history books.
It wasn't close to his first two performances against Washington this year, but Embiid was still an all-around dominant force. In 29 minutes of action, he finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and one block.
Wednesday marked the 129th time that Embiid notched at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game in his career. This is now the most by a player in franchise history, passing Hall of Fame big man Charles Barkley.
Embiid is also putting up numbers identical to another Hall of Fame center, Shaquille O'Neal. The Sixers star now has seven straight games of 30 and 10, marking the longest streak since Shaq in 2001.
Through his first 19 games, Embiid is outdoing his play from his MVP season last year. He's posting a career-high 33.4 points per game and 6.4 assists per game. As he continues to prove he is an all-around talent, Embiid is once again front and center in the MVP conversation.
As Embiid continues to climb up the Sixers' all-time ranks, Barkley is a name he'll continue to chase. At the moment, the Hall of Famer is first in offensive (2,688) and defensive rebounds (4,391) and third in total rebounds (7,079). Embiid currently sits at 10th in offensive rebounds (939) and ninth in total rebounds (4,620).
When it comes to scoring, Embiid is rapidly approaching Barkley on the Sixers' all-time list. Barkley currently sits in fifth with 14,184, and Embiid sits in eighth with 11,352.