This is the greatest moment of Embiid’s career.
It beats winning a gold with Team USA. And his greatest playoff series victory before this was probably beating a Siakam + Vanvleet team in 2022.
People will knock it because it was the first round but the context here was key. Finally beating Boston, coming back from down 3-1, and also returning from having an appendectomy make it a pretty huge moment.
Will become even bigger if they manage to make the ECF
We also quickly forgot most people had Boston coming out of the East lol
I’m happy I gave up on sports gambling a long time ago. I had Nuggets Celtics
Are you a fan of the ringer?
I was a fan of how they looked in game 82, but that didn’t carry over into the first round
Shit…didn’t Denver run off 12-13 straight wins end of season? I mean they looked unbeatable
How many of them were against Jaden McDaniels though
yes we did 😭
I had Celtics v Lakers lmao
I’m a Lakers homer, though, so you can’t completely blame me.
Lakers were looking legit before Austin and Luka went down
Lakers completely disintegrated playing OKC, can’t knock Luka but I couldn’t see them ever beating them.
I agree, don’t see them climbing out of OKC outside of perfect synergy and coaching or a freak injury (god forbid). I just think they were at least seen on the level of the wolves, houston etc.
Most people forgot because the real championship is whoever wins Spurs vs Thunder lol.
I won’t stand for this Magic slander
I will
I won’t!
Who am I kidding. Yes I will. We suck.
I appreciate you taking at least a little of the heat off the Celtics.
I feel like with how many people say this as a sure thing, the basketball gods will ensure that the championship winner is neither of those teams.
Yeah as a pistons fan even if we are frauds it’s nice to not have Boston advance having listened to how much better they are than everyone else in the East for months. Happy for Philly.
Boston or Detroit lmao
I will not forget
this fucked my bracket. I had Spurs vs Celtics in the finals
We also forgot how quickly people had Boston not making the playoffs either
Yeah, and then actual basketball was played my guy
Plus the extra bit of spice with a couple of Boston players talking shit shout Embiid.
Let’s also remember Embiid once openly wept because he lost a playoff series, say what you want about him but dude for sure cares a lot.
Hello, HR?
Less than a year after people were speculating he might never play again or that he was cooked if he did
Shit, literally a week after people(fans and media) were criticizing him AFTER he played in his first game post appendix surgery…despite returning earlier than expected and all because his team lost and he didn’t put up 30, 15 and 8 i guess. SMH
I thought that he was completely done, and I stand by that opinion of the time. Dude could barely walk, and his first games this season didn’t look much better. Can’t believe he is playing like a top 10 guy still.
I know how sad this is, but this is legit the biggest win since the step over in 2001. Despite having a good amount of regular season success the past 25 years, they’ve obviously disappointed in the playoffs.
Anyone knocking this is dumb AF lol
There’s a reason this shit hasn’t been done since the Bubble. 3-1 comeback alone is incredible but against Boston? Insane legacy points.
yeah anyone who is acting like this isn’t a big deal is a victim of rings culture
it’s a massive comeback against your career rival as a huge underdog after coming back early from surgery. this is literally the point of being a sports fan, it’s awesome
Ring culture sucks because the NBA playoffs make every single series like its own playoffs. Ring culture makes more sense in one and done playoffs like the NFL imo, in the NBA each series deserves to be celebrated and remembered more
People will knock it because this is a cart before the horse moment about a guy who has an MVP and a gold medal. IF they get swept by the Knicks, is this still the greatest moment of his career? because it’ll be very hard arguing that.
It’s some sort of organisational belief that we can beat Boston and win a G7. I don’t know if it translates this year or next year, but our team was very quickly heading to a place where we had an inherent disbelief in doing something.
Our entire fanbase was genuinely convinced after G5 that we’d lose by 20 at home in G6 because that’s what we’ve been conditioned to expect, and after G6 that we’d lose game 7. I cannot imagine a part of that feeling wasn’t also present with the players, staff and FO, even if they’d never admit to it.
Beating the pistons wouldn’t have done this, it’s the Celtics specifically, our ‘rivals’ that we haven’t beaten in the postseason for 44 years.
Yeah people who aren’t fans of the sixers probably don’t understand just how much stuff that typically happens to the sixers just didn’t happen, it feels like a curse was legitimately lifted. That’s the only explanation I have for that Pritchard shot not going in for example
I consider myself to be a neutral for the most part but the Sixers are the closest thing to me having an actual team I follow fairly closely even if they’re not getting too much attention from the national media (old roommate was a Embiid stan and I kind of just hopped on the wagon and have always wanted to see him get his flowers).
I wasn’t surprised (but was very happy) they won game 5, but during game 6 I was kind of just waiting for some BS to happen down the stretch and it just didn’t happen.
Game 7, again, the vibes felt good going in and they got to a great start but after White started to get going I just felt that inevitable feeling of dread that I’m sure Sixer fans have felt for years. Game got really close at the end and part of me was expecting some standard Sixers-Celtics black magic to happen (even though I desperately wanted the Sixers to win) and it just didn’t happen. It was an insanely surreal experience for me who hasn’t really even been following the Sixers for that long. I could only imagine how fans who went through the process feel
To be clear, I’ve also only become a fan at the very tail end of the process. Didn’t really follow basketball before that.
2017(?) we popped confetti on a won game that we lost because a 2 became a 3 for the fucking Celtics. We’ve had the quad rim bounce for Kawhi where we lost the non Embiid minutes (2:48) by 13 points. We’ve had Simmons dunk after Doc blew 3 20 point leads by just putting all bench lineups out. We’ve had players quit, forget to shoot, every injury possible for Embiid, refs straight up hosing us for 6 minutes to give Boston G6 and then completely deflate and give up in G7. The one season Embiid was healthy, Ben was out so we still got rolled without much fight. Fake Tobias improvements, Jimmy being an asshole but great etc
Brother i felt this as a guy who mostly follows west teams (and some of the freak east teams like miami/bucks/ and the all position playable embiid 6ers), so for me i just wanted to see the 76ers firing on all cylinders and would have been happy even if they gave their all and still lost, as long as they got a “fair shot” and it wasn’t a choke. It didnt hit me until now that i was also conditioned to think the way yall do abt them. I really do think the doc rivers years fucked with everyones mentals. It was also tough for ppl who never watched the 6ers try to act like joel was a fake mvp, when tbose mf never even watched him uninjured. Yesterday was a treat just to see him be him again, and the win was just over the top. Congrats to yall man, I’m tryna see yall make a deep run
I will go to my grave convinced that if one of those shots the Celtics had to take the lead late in the fourth had gone down (and a couple of them were good looks), the 76ers would have broken completely. The weight of everything would have been too much. But it didn’t happen, and the monkey is now off your back.
Completely agree
It being Boston really made it truly cathartic. Like this was kind of our championship and now we’ve got rent paid and are just betting the extra
yes, easily. because this was the biggest win for the sixers in 25 years. the first time they’ve beaten the celtics in a playoff series in 40+ years. Saying anything otherwise is being ignorant of what this series win meant to the sixers organization and fanbase.
It is tough because you’re right, narratives do flip fast. This moment is that important but we’ve already seen like the Hawks collapse how much you can just completely unwrite that coming up argument. Magic might be doing the same thing right now.
But honestly? It’s good to celebrate like this, that’s what the playoffs are about. And with the Celtics out of the way, they’ve got a legit shot all the sudden. Not an easy road at all, but still.
It also has a lot of meaning from a franchise perspective, it’s the first time the Sixers have beaten the Celtics in the playoffs since 1982.
Not a crazy thought either, the Knicks closed out the Hawks well but they’re always inconsistent. I could see Maxey and Embiid causing them a lot of problems, especially if George and Edgecombe keep playing well. They may have too many flamethrowers for them to stop.
Also imo, whoever comes out of the 3-7 matchup is playing in the finals.
Man I think the key is PG. You know what you’ll get from T-Max and Joel. You know VJ can give you a little something at least a couple of games in a series…but can PG give you at least one big game and then chip in with what’s needed in the other three? That will be key imo.
Yeah. Honestly he deserves this moment, it must feel so good for him. He got constantly shit on his whole career, always compared to another player, and always on the losing end of every big moment and had insanely bad injury luck. I am not saying it will be likely to happen but him beating the celtics like this getting by NY and then beating the raptors would be a storyline for a movie. Hopefully he keeps his foot on the gas and can stay healthy (by embiid standards), have his day and then get ready for the knicks.
I do think it’s most likely the knicks win but the sixers are a scary team to be honest. There is no real tape on them, they only played like 30 games in 2 years together. They could be an overperforming team right now or they could be a really good team that hasn’t quite found their rhythm.
Bro slipped in the raptors in the ecf like we wouldn’t notice
I had an appendectomy a week before my bar mitzvah
Lemme tell you I was HURTING during the hava nagila and I was just a 13 year old Jewish kid not a 7 foot behemoth playing in a game 7 of the nba finals
That’s actually crazy that he did that
Everyone had written when off at 3-1
If you check my history, I have been a keen critique even a hater of the guy
I have nothing bad to say to him now. If he shows up and plays, you just need to appreciate and acknowledge what happened. This is his day. Coming back from such deficit is a big feat.
Dude was gassed at the end of game7, he’s getting a healthy and rested Mitch and Kat tomorrow, Q vaya con dios
Ayo chill on them man, yalls common enemy got faded and now ny and east ny can vs each other for fun
East is putrid so why not? They could make the finals and I wouldn’t be surprised. Love Joel, soooo so happy for him
I agree from a fans perspective. This was huge for Philly fans, a massive city wide celebration considering eliminating the Celtics from the playoffs. Most people hardly care about the Gold Medal because the USA is just so dominant its just collective meh. beent there done that. But how many chances do the 76ers get a chance to beat the Celtics in the playoffs.
23, the most of any team
IMHO Embiid’s series against the Raptors in 2019 was his playoffs apex — he was absolutely dominant that series; was just done in by how dreadful the Sixers were with him on the bench. But this series, coming off surgery, surpasses that.
Really? I recall Gasol handling him really well that series.
I just looked and he averaged 17.6 on 37% shooting so yeah, Gasol had him in jail lol
He was absolutely dominant defensively that series and was sharing the scoring load with Butler, Simmons, Redick and Harris. As that poster said the Sixers were dreadful with him on the bench, he had a ridiculous +89 that series. 76ers +/- that series were:
Embiid: +89
Butler: +15
Redick: -2
Mike Scott: -4
Simmons: -16
Ennis III: -21
Monroe: -25
Tobias: -33
Mind you he was playing through knee tendinitis and missed 5 of the last 7 reg season games as well as game 3 of the 1st rd vs Nets because of it. On top of gastroenteritis which he needed IV fluids before games just to be able to play.
Man that sixers starting lineup was amazing and the bench was just god awful
Embiid basically had 1 really good game that series where he was doing his airplane taunt. The rest of the time he was mediocre, getting owned by Gasol, or sitting out with a tummy ache. Butler was the real leader of that team and the reason it was such a tough series for the Raptors.
Tbf to Embiid, I have a tummy ache right now and wouldn’t want to be playing bball lol
What? He wasn’t all that great vs the Raptors lmao. People just be saying anything on here.
he genuinely had one of the best defensive series I’ve ever seen, reducing how a player played to their offensive efficiency is silly
There are two sides of the game. If you’re going to try and put forward a series as a players peak, it’s fair to evaluate how they performed on both ends. And while you can praise him for his defense, you can also criticize his low scoring and abysmal efficiency.
sure, I’m not saying he was perfect or can’t be criticized. but evaluating in retrospect by going “he had x points on x TS%” is very reductive. his offense was terrible, but his defense was at a truly unreal level and deserves appreciation. He was +89 in a 7 game series, and +10 in 45 minutes in game 7, it’s hard to call that (coupled with what I watched) not all that great
He was not great that series
You’re remember it wrong, because he wasn’t great and he wasn’t even on his MVP level player yet.
I wonder if this will be his year, is this the dagger?
eliminating the Celtics… without Tatum. Huge qualifier. Trash.
Not to minimize Tatum’s impact but Embiid was 3-1 this series and played less games than Tatum this round.
Embiid can only play what’s in front of him. Also, the Celtics had their superstar miss fewer games/minutes than the 76ers. Tatum played 6 of the 7 of the games (218 min total), Embiid only played in 4 (146 min in total). And the 76ers were 2-1 in the 3 games in which both of them played.
Why are some of y’all so miserable
he won a mvp
Someone wins an MVP each year.
Exercising a personal demon off a short recovery from a medical procedure to bring a team back from being down 3-1 is special.
Did you mean exorcising? That is a highly amusing typo.
“Dammit demon…don’t stop….I want another thirty jumping jacks before your mile run!”
Exercising the demon is what the 76ers had done since 2018
oh shit that’s why they haven’t had success. They’ve been exercising that demon the whole time and finally someone told them they need to exorcise it instead, boom instant improvement!
Maybe if they thrust the process, it’ll get ‘em to the Finals
Give him some more full body stretches.
It always reminds me of Not Afraid by Eminem in one of the verses:
“But it’s time to exorcise these demons These motherfuckers are doing jumping jacks now”
r/boneappletea
You’re free to put this series over his other achievements if you want but saying “someone wins an MVP every year” is massively understating that particular accomplishment lol
Someone gets to the second round every tear
And that someone is not on the wizards
He “exercises” every day, big whoop
Are you serious
I’m about to be hella downvoted for saying winning an MVP is better than a first round series…the times we live in…
Accomplishment vs moment
This feels like a moment for him. After being clowned by Boston fans too, facing a gentleman’s sweep. He came back to silence Boston and its fans. Its was amazing. I say this as someone who has no love for his sixers, but good for him
Definitely a nexus point for defining greatness.
If they go to ECF to finally get out of second round, then absolutely. If his team is dispatched by the Knicks or he misses 4 games, then this victory becomes much less.
Certainly adds another layer to this second round matchup. Knicks finally a chance to the finals, Embiid can make it to third round- exciting stuff to watch for sure to see which narrative will continue, and which will be quenched.
Best wishes to both teams!
I want Philly to win the title this year. Embiid, maxey, PG, Edge, LowryX2, Drummond. Shame McCain would be missing. Pipe dream tho
McCain likely still gets a ring though i’d think?
Yea you can tell by the way everyone is acting like they just won the championship
Minnesota 🤝 Philadelphia
Winning a championship in round 1
Does anyone else just not care about the best of the best NBA players winning gold medals??
It’s a cool side story, but I don’t factor it in at all when thinking about someone’s career.
Anyway, yes, you are likely correct.
And it could lead to narrative-altering success for Embiid this postseason.
Philly would get smoked in the Finals, but if Embiid leads the team to the Finals? That’s major.
And the East is WIDE open.
Philly now needs to beat Jalen Brunson in the second round. And very possibly face Orlando or Toronto in the ECF.
idk i would rank Curry’s game vs France among the best moments in his career
Closest thing to a real like super saiyan we’ve ever seen. Lebron and KD both passed to him in a double team at the end of that game because he was on another level. He made some of the greatest players of his generation feed him because even THEY were recognizing the greatness.
Yeah, to be fair, winning gold with Team USA is not exactly a spectacular feat.
It’s a cool feat.
But, it’s like taking your wife to Applebees on a Wednesday.
Fine for what it is. But, if that’s your main bragging point?
Yikes.
don’t show this to Carmelo
I don’t know his, so I won’t.
But, perfect example.
He was a great player.
And his career accomplishments keep him being in any convo about top-20 or top-30 players.
It will be in a few or several years when USA doesn’t win
Yeah, the only really memorable result for an international basketball tournament is if the USA doesn’t win. Maybe that won’t be as true sooner or later, other countries have caught up to the USA in baseball after all, but Olympic Gold for Team USA basketball is basically a formality.
I think it means a LOT if it’s not Team USA. Argentina’s gold medal in ‘04 is almost certainly the pinnacle of Manu Ginobili’s career
Very optimistic to think Orlando can get going again
Everyone thought the same about the pacers vs thunder last year and that series went 7 games
The only time Olympic medals matter to me is when I’m tryna talk up Melo and his career since he’s one of the best Olympic players of all time lol
Y’all acting like we already lost like our own fans at this point
Team USA gold medals mean very little to me, it’s like the KD Warriors chips. And especially not for Embiid because he petitioned France to play for them. Won on a stacked roster instead.
You have it backwards. France was petitioning embiid.
Dismissing Durant or the Warriors is really stupid.
I say that as someone that was completely rooting against them.
Durant didn’t just go and piggyback to two titles. He won FMVP BOTH YEARS!!!
Going to the second round is better than a gold medal?
It’s obviously not a more prestigious accomplishment, but given the context of being huge underdogs, down 3-1, getting owned by Boston for decades, never having a signature playoff win, this is probably more validating for him personally
First time Philly beat Boston in a playoff series since 82
Fair. I do think they need to make a run out of it though to vault it into that conversation. If they lose this next round I just don’t think it carries the same weight. Yea you got over a hump, but for what. Not to take away from the immediate validation.
yes
Going to the second round is somewhat dismissive to beating the Celtics. Overall second round, but in isolation, it could have been any round. Celtics were the favorite in the east. So, you are correct in reality, but not in context.
I think context is important that if they lose next round it absolutely should not be one of his greatest accomplishments. Maybe going to the ECF could change that as this being the catalyst for it
If the gold medal was for France maybe. Dude hoed the entire country of France for a French passport, including their president
Or winning MVP lol
OP is so off base
NBA career*
Probably his Super Bowl
I told a friend this can be Embiid’s Logan arc lol.
Is VJ x23?
I absolutely agree
Beating the Celtics is always a big deal, especially for a guy like Embiid
He lost to them in 2018, 2020 and 2023
When they were down 3-1, it seems as though his record against Boston would be extended to 0-4
Then they came back, Embiid was balling and they won in Boston
I’m happy for him but this is nothing if they don’t make it to the finals. I don’t mean to discount it but people are prisoners to the moment here.
Dude I am a certified Embiid hater and this is fucking slander lmao.
It is the first really good team the Sixers have beat in Embiids career.
Ok but the man has won a league MVP.
That’s really sad.
The greatest moment is a first round victory over the worst playoff team the Celtics have ever had and Tatum not even playing game 7?
you gotta get them where you can. i’m a raptors fan, so hating embiid is in my blood, but this was really good for him.
Ok people need to chill, as much as Troel has traumatized me im pretty sure winning the MVP over Jokic is the greatest moment of his career.
Avoiding getting bounced in the first by a hobbled Celtics is not bigger than an MVP nor joining the most stacked team in the world to win olympic gold.
✈️
“Hobbled Celtics” is wild to say when the Sixers were far more affected by injury this series.
MVP is still his biggest achievement though, very very few players win MVP.
IDK if I’d call the Celtics hobbled; but Embiid made our rookie centers look pretty bad last 3 games
People are so desperate for a good Embiid story that they’ll just throw whatever they can out here
sorry I forgot you need to win a ring to experience happiness in sports. our bad
Of course not.
But surely an MVP award, the crown jewel of individual accomplishments in the sport, is better than this. Or an Olympic gold medal. Both of which Embiid has.
People just really want to see Embiid do well, so we have to pretend this is a big deal.
“people really want to see Embiid do well” has been true for about 1 week, has been very much the opposite for the last decade
I think the MVP is probably the bigger deal but just to say: people were writing obituaries on Embiid’s career just a few months ago, and he just came back early from an emergency surgery to lead his team to a 3-1 comeback against his biggest career rival and the favorite in the east. That’s a big deal!
Fully agree. I used to be an Embiid hater, but I’m happy for the big man after what he has gone through (obviously I had to root against him because of the Sixers pick owed to us, but that has been settled now)
I am an embiid hater but I’ve got nothing but respect here, and the fact that it kicked the celtics out is just the cherry on top.
Gonna be a bad look if one of your top career (filled with some of the most embarrassing flops in the history of the league) moments comes before an almost annual second round playoff exit.
appreciate the perspective from a Kings fan here, some of our sharpest scholars in Bad Looks
I can professionally confirm which players have as many championships as a team as stupid as this.
Gold medal was better.
Well, that’s pathetic but okay
It is. Genuinely. He got his playoff story.
Not even close to a gold medal
Dumb take at 8 am CT. Compared to a great one I saw at 130 am. You need to let your hangover subside or just get real. Chill out. He would not trade this over his gold or mvp. He’s already had to beg fans not to sell their tickets against the Knicks.
Yeah that Serbia game where he was clutch was one of the most epic games OF ALL TIME. This is coming from someone who saw every game of Lebron’s 3-1 comeback against the Warriors
Bar is that low for him eh
Hang the banner!
Coming back so quickly from appendix surgery (which is clearly bothering him still) and knocking off the #2 seed is amazing.
It’s definitely the most I’ve ever respected him, feels kind of like the series Gobert just had where it unequivocally shows the greatness of players everyone has kind of written off over the years despite their awards
Helps that Boston doesn’t run good bigs, relies on 3pt shooting variance and Tatum missed game 7. I really felt people overrated Boston massively this year. Still, was a great upset by Philly and I’m interested to keep seeing what they got
Man’s body has been through a wood chipper at this stage and still managed to knock off two future HOF.
It’s a phenomenal win.
Time for him to face his nemesis: the second round
Jesus Christ, it’s a first round game
Now, now, this is the Sixers we’re talking about. We grade them on a curve.
that’s really not saying much.
So far
Embiid winning FMVP the year Jokic loses in the first round could lead to one of the greatest narrative reversals in NBA history.
I’m not an Embiid fan, but he was so collected and calm last night. He was unstoppable.
He sure seemed spent, he’d have benefited from a couple more days off before this next series.
For his sake, I sure hope it isn’t.
As a hockey (Capitals) fan-if they go on a run you could look back at this series the way the Caps did when they finally beat the Penguins after over a decade of futility-it seemed to loosen the team up going forward.
As a fan I was almost as happy when they beat Pittsburgh than when Ovi raised the Cup.
Not an Embiid fan but listening to Jalen Brown all year made me happy BOS lost lol
almost every time I’d take an mvp over a round 1 game 7 as a player’s personal peak, but with the context here of an additional 3 years of injury woes, I know Embiid is euphoric to be able to play out (and dominate) a series. even if they get eliminated next round, he was able to play meaningful basketball again. that’s all he ever wanted. we know these guys would trade all their mvps and awards for the longevity to do it for another 10 years like Lebron
This being his greatest achievement is just sad all things considered.
They should hang a banner - champions of first round
Cornier than when they rigged up confetti for a game three
It’s so weird to see Embiid appreciation posts here, when during his MVP year, there were multiple threads every single day that hated on him lol
While great, it’s not better than the Serbia game
What a legacy he must have
Winning gold with USA is absolutely a greater career achievement, as is winning MVP, something most players do not ever get. Overcoming the Celtics tho is a helluva personal accomplishment for Embiid given he always lost to them in the post season when matched up.
This doesn’t beat a gold mdeal run but I am super happy for him after all he has been through.
Damning with faint praise.
This is great, but it’s in no way better than earning a gold medal in this last Olympics lol
if the biggest team based moment of your career is upsetting a 2 seed as a 7 after being down 3-1, then you haven’t really accomplished much in a team based sport than winning a single playoff series when the other team’s best player rushed back from an achilles injury and couldn’t play game 7. the amount of mental gymnastics occurring to give Joel Embiid, the weakest minded gifted athlete of our generation, is truly remarkable. going to become the biggest Knicks fan here soon so we can stop slobbing Embiid’s knob, because the only reason the 76ers won was because of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecomb. literally in their wins, Edgecomb is money from 3, with or without Embiid.
More teams beaten with more than 50 wins than jokic btw.
That is such a ridiculous arbitrary stat. The goal is to win an NBA Championship. For individuals the goal is to win MVP. Jokic has both of those over Embiid. Talk to me with the 76ers win a title. There is no world in which you can use revisionist history to discount the our NBA Championship. We beat every team in front of us and handily. The only series that went 6 was peak KD and Booker Suns. Lebron and AD Lakers got swept. The Heat had just beat the Celtics who were 57-25 in the ECF. Clearly the Heat were better than the 50+ win Celtics.
How long before mods delete this
Hahahaha! THIS is the greatest moment of his career says a lot.
Winning gold with TeamUSA is towards the bottom of the list regardless bro
Get this stuff in now while you can lol I don’t blame you
F### Embiid. Payback coming in hot.
I don’t know why people are happy for him all of a sudden. Just because hes put up some numbers and we think hes due. How quickly we forget hes a deadly combination of harden and draymond and all the opposing players he risked injury with. Even when hes not doing it to others on purpose a 7 footer diving near players legs is dangerous
Only because you guys overrated the hell out of Boston. Doesn’t look that great if you knew they were a mid team and nowhere near a title threat.
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Knicks gonna crush them