Joel Embiid re-signed a three-year, $192.9 million veteran extension with the Philadelphia 76ers on September 19. This officially marks the fact that the Philly have now transferred all of their hopes to their MVP. The Sixers star has got almost all the elements of a balanced team on his side with Nick Nurse and the front office’s summer moves. Apart from the 9x All-Star Paul George, the Sixers acquired a number of free agents like Reggie Jackson, Kyle Lowry, Andre Drummond, and Eric Gordon. Therefore, the pressure on the former MVP might escalate next season for a championship contendership, though it was not any less before.

However, the Celtics legend and Hall of Famer Paul Pierce does not look eye to eye with the Philly and Embiid equation. Rather, as per the former NBA champion, Mavs icon Luka Doncic and Wolves‘ Anthony Edwards are under more scrutiny than Joel Embiid.

Paul based his reasoning on the face of the league narrative. Expressing his perspective, The Truth said on the ‘KG Certified’ podcast, “If we’re anointing him like how we’re anointing Luka and we’re saying like he could possible be the face of the league. I feel like we ain’t talk about the face of the league, we don’t bring up Embiid, we don’t bring up Paul George. When we talk about the face of the league, Luka’s name is in that mix.”

The Mavs have reached two times deep into the playoffs with Luka Doncic onboard. In 2021-22, they reached the Conference Finals, while last season, they almost advanced toward the Larry O’Brien trophy. However, Joel Embiid came before Luka in 2014, yet he was unable to get the Philly squad past the Conference Semifinals. They’ve made it to the second round in the postseason five times out of the last seven seasons.

But it’s not only Luka who’ll be under the pressure of a championship claim. Paul Pierce had another name in mind who topped his list and will be under the most pressure, putting aside Luka and Joel Embiid.

Celtics legend reveals the uncrowned player who will be facing max pressure next season

Former Boston Celtics veteran Paul Pierce put Luka above Joel Embiid in the name of his face of the league narrative. However, above Luka, he had only one name in mind: Wolves’ star Anthony Edwards.

“It’s more pressure on Ant Edwards than all of them truthfully coz how we are talking about this last playoff run. We was annoying him like God damn. After they beat the Denver Nuggets, it was every talk show was like, is he the face of the league everyone! Is he the next Jordan? He’s funny, he’s charismatic, he’s got a shoe. So I feel like its pressure on him right now,” the Celtics legend voiced his opinion.

And it’s true! Everyone loves watching Anthony Edwards, from Kevin Durant to Stephen A. Smith. KD referred to him as the favorite guy to watch, while Smith called him his “guy” after Wolf’s Game 1 victory over the Nuggets in the playoffs. Ant-Man showcase performances, loud-mouthed attitude, and athleticism do make him the exception on the court. He stands out, and he showed it on the Olympic platform as well.

Therefore, Paul’s opinion isn’t absolutely one-sided. However, Ant and Luka are still young. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid is 30 years old. So it might be safe to assume that Embiid will not face the performance pressure since the Philly squad has got backup this time. But whatever the Philly star is going to face, it won’t be as close to the ones attracting the attention of the league, like Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger