“Out of Shape”: Ex-NBA Star Questions Joel Embiid’s Place in Team USA While NBA’s Finals MVP Still Awaits His Opportunity

After a breezy win against Canada, Team USA played their second exhibition match on the road to the Paris Olympics. An Australian team stood in their way, consisting of multiple NBA talents. Things were supposed to go smoothly, but it was anything but that. Joel Embiid started again and will probably continue at center, but his performance raised a lot of alarm bells.

On the other hand, his competitor for that role, Anthony Davis, met expectations with a team-high 17-point performance. Compared to him, Embiid put up 14 points on the board. This left no doubts in the mind of a former NBA star who not only slammed Embiid’s performance but also added some adjectives to the Cameroonian’s overall condition.

On the latest episode of Gil’s Arena podcast, former Timberwolves guard Rashad McCants went off on Embiid’s performance. Embiid, who suffered a meniscus injury in the second half of the regular season in 2024, returned to action just before the playoffs. Not only that, the big man experienced a mild case of Bells Palsey during the postseason.

With all that taking its toll on him, Embiid is yet to reach maximum fitness. At least that is what McCants believes. “Joel still look like he out of shape. He shouldn’t even be out there,” McCants claimed. Co-host Josiah Johnson seconded the statement. “Yeah. It looks like AD should be the starting center based on how he looks right now,” Johnson proceeded to say.

Embiid only played 16 minutes in the game in Abu Dhabi. In those limited minutes, the 7-footer gobbled up 5 rebounds and shot 3 out of his 6 field goal attempts while going 1-1 from range. But the biggest concern for them was the number of turnovers. The team gave the ball away 18 times in the game, which seems to be a major concern for Team USA.

“We are represented by supposed to be the best 12… If we are supposed to be that, right, none of these games should be close. I don’t care who you play, what 5 you got on the floor, what bench, or what starting lineup you put out there, it should not matter,” Keynon Martin Sr. said on the same show, reflecting the high expectations surrounding the team.

Despite the deep arsenal of talents, the lackluster performance caused creeping doubts about the overall health issues of the team. Kevin Durant is still nursing calf soreness, and Derrick White replaced Kawhi Leonard. But still, there was no call-up for Jaylen Brown, and Embiid’s supposed struggles probably will not open a window of opportunity for the NBA Finals MVP.

Joel Embiid’s struggles will not provide a chance for Jaylen Brown

Joel Embiid went through a hailstorm of criticism from the French populace when he pledged his alliance to Team USA. Recently, he even shared his thought process for choosing the USAB. So far, it hasn’t been exactly as dreamy for Embiid as he expected, but that shouldn’t give much hope to anyone waiting in the reserve pool.

Jaylen Brown is one such name, but he has already figured out that he’d not be getting a nod even if the opportunity arises. When asked about his Olympic snub, JB did not mince his words. “I wasn’t surprised, but my reaction was that I was happy for D. White. It’s dope to have so many of our guys on there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn’t surprised,” Brown said on Monday.

Brown had a smashing season with the Cs behind him. The guard made a double swoop with both Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP awards to his name, but his relationship with Nike allegedly cost him the call-up. With him out of the picture, Team USA will be looking at the options they have with them, and replacing a starter with another All-Star waiting on the bench is not a luxury every team has apart from the USAB. In the end, results will only matter, but the sudden uproar following the Austrian game indicates that the Gold Medal must come with style.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what brand maker Leonard Armato had to say about the deadly duo Shaq and Kobe, check out this video.