7ft Joel Embiid Faced Charles Oakley Backlash Due to 1 NBA Misconception, as Per Gilbert Arenas

Joel Embiid is on the New York Knicks’ radar—the team, the fans, and even the ex-teammates, it seems. The most recent one to take a shot at Embiid is ex-Knicks star Charles Oakley, who has even taken back his Wilt Chamberlain compliment for Embiid. This comes after the Philadelphia 76ers star missed shootaround ahead of Game 5 of the series because of a migraine. He also mentioned the migraine issue in his post-game interview. However, Oakley feels this generation of players is just a crybaby when it comes to injuries.

Meanwhile, ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas has clarified why the NBA community expects players like Joel Embiid to not whine in any circumstances. “It’s hard because even him, at what, 50%, he’s just dominant… and this is more of NBA thing… if all three of us is playing one on one… as much as we want, they’re (referees) not gonna call the foul the same. So him (Joel Embiid), Jokic, Giannis, players like that… They get fouled a lot, right?… but because they’re so big, they supposed to take it, right… They do the most trying…” Arenas said, appearing on an episode of Nightcap.

It is maybe expectations of these kinds from certain NBA athletes that, when not met, lead to disappointment. However, after what Oakley said about Embiid, it is hard to think this disappointment is the sole reason. It is quite easy to assume at this point that this may be emerging from the recent Knicks rivalry situation. Notably, Oakley passed some rough comments against Embiid.

Charles Oakley’s harsh remarks against Joel Embiid

“I don’t want hear this, ‘I’m giving it my all.’ You’re a seven-footer shooting 3s. I mean, you stand out around the 3-point line what the guards gonna do?” Oakley said on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s ‘The Starting Lineup’ show. He further emphasized that this generation of players cries too much. “He’s (Joel Embiid) too big to be crying. I’m sorry I said about two years ago, he could be the next Wilt Chamberlain. I don’t know. He could be the next Dunkin Donut or somebody because he just cry,” he added.

Moreover, this is not the first time that Oakley has lashed out against Joel Embiid. He had a similar reaction after the Sixers star’s flagrant foul against Mitchell Robinson. Oakley had said that had he been in that situation, he would have smacked Embiid. He believes a player cannot be allowed to send this kind of message. “If he had done something like that [when Oakley played], he wouldn’t have gotten away with it,” Oakley told Barbara Barker of Newsday. The fans now await what Game 6 will bring to this player vs fanbase rivalry.