Before getting injured in the regular season, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was in the midst of arguably another MVP season. Despite how things played out for the superstar center, one analyst still views him in the upper echelon of NBA stars.
Despite leading his team to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years, Jayson Tatum has received his fair share of criticism. As the Boston Celtics prepare to take on the Dallas Mavericks, a debate ensued about where the All-Star forward ranks among the league’s top players.
While on ESPN’s Get Up, Zach Lowe stated that he doesn’t view Tatum as a top-five player in the NBA at the moment. When healthy, Embiid was among the players that made the cut over the Celtics star.
“Look, the top four players in the league when everyone’s healthy are indisputably Luka, Jokic, Giannis, and Embiid in some order,” Lowe said. “This year, SGA was No. 5. Well that’s five, we’re out of five players…Tatum is somewhere six, seven, eight.”
Over the past four years, Embiid has proven to be one of the league’s most unstoppable forces. Along with securing the MVP award last season, he’s led the league in scoring on two separate occasions. In 39 games this season, Embiid averaged 34.7 PPG, 11.0 RPG, and 5.6 APG.
For most of his career, Embiid was regarded as one of the top two-way centers in the NBA. Fresh off an MVP season, the Sixers star managed to take his game to new heights. Under new head coach Nick Nurse, Embiid tapped into becoming more of a playmaker. Thanks to the pieces acquired in the James Harden trade, the star big man had multiple weapons around him when defenses collapsed on him.
Even though injuries impacted his play on the court this season, Embiid is still more than worthy of being at the top of any list regarding top NBA talents. When on the floor, there are few players more impactful in every facet of the game than him.