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Shaq Had Blunt Message for Joel Embiid and His NBA Championship Hopes

Andy Nesbitt

Shaq didn't hold back on Joel Embiid.
Shaq didn't hold back on Joel Embiid. / @TNT
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Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid finally made his season debut Tuesday night and it wasn't pretty as he had just 13 points on 2-of-11 shooting in a 111-99 loss to the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid, who played 26 minutes, sat out the first nine games of the season with a knee injury and a three-game suspension for shoving a columnist in the 76ers' locker room.

Embiid said before the season that he probably wouldn't play in any back-to-back games this year in order to keep him fresh for a postseason run.

Shaquille O'Neal doesn't seem to love that plan and had a message for Embiid during TNT's halftime show:

"Joel Embiid will never win a championship until he gets his mind and his attitude right," Shaq said.

The 76ers are now 2-8 and in danger of quickly seeing this season becoming a lost year for a franchise that had high hopes just a few weeks ago.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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