New York Knicks Star Dishes Honest Thoughts on Sixers’ Joel Embiid

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson defends Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Apr 28, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives against Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) during the second half of game four of the first round in the 2024 NBA playoffs at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks might be in a rivalry, but the latter team’s star player, Jalen Brunson, hasn’t allowed that fact to cloud his judgment about the Sixers’ star player, Joel Embiid.

In a recent interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Brunson went in-depth with his thoughts on Embiid, describing the 76ers star as “unfairly discussed” amongst NBA fans and analysts.

As Brunson has played against Embiid ten times during the regular season, and now six times in the playoffs, the Knicks guard has seen the seven-footer up close in enough games to realize why Embiid was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player one year ago.

“He is the one player where I played against him, I’m like, ‘Damn. This dude is dominant.’ When I first played him in Dallas, he just controlled the entire game from the center position,” Brunson explained. “I haven’t seen that in person. He controlled the game. He controlled the pace of the game. He just controlled it.”

Since debuting for Philadelphia, Embiid has made it his mission to become as versatile as possible. Despite playing the center position, Embiid has worked on becoming a three-level scoring threat, while consistently improving his playmaking.

Despite his personal growth as a player, Embiid hasn’t escaped criticism. With the Sixers failing to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals during the Embiid era so far, discussions about the big man’s accomplishments tend to come with a side of criticism.

In Brunson’s eyes, that’s left spectators under-appreciative of the center.

“Me seeing now ‘Oh, Joel hasn’t got past the second round or Joel hasn’t done this.’ Joel has done some crazy things. MVP, the numbers he puts up, all that stuff. He’s done crazy things,” Brunson finished.