Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been on an absolute tear in the 2021-22 season. He was already playing at a high level, but in the month of January, Embiid is averaging 34.5 points and 10.8 rebounds while shooting 54.8% from the floor and 33.3% from deep.
Embiid has shown his entire skill package: putting the ball on the floor, knocking down a jumper from the mid-range or deep and knocking down free throws. He has become almost unguardable and that type of play draws high praise and comparisons.
Danny Green, who has been out with right hip pain, has played with some incredible talents. He has been teammates with LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis and the great Shaquille O’Neal. So he knows what he’s talking about when he sees greatness.
“Other than the fact that he’s 7-foot-2, 300 pounds and nimble?” laughed Green. “He’s just a force that we’ve never seen before. He’s Shaq with footwork and a touch. We’ve never seen a big man with guard skills like him. Obviously, he puts the work in. Day in and day out watch the film, knows his personnel, knows who he’s playing against, and knows what he can get, or what advantages he has against something big that he’s playing against.”
There is a lot that the big fella can do out on the floor, but the biggest thing that impresses Green is his ability to make adjustments against double teams.
“I think his biggest thing is that he’s improved on tremendously is reading the double teams and trusting his teammates more and more each game,” Green added. “Finding the reads, finding the right passes, making the right plays, to where other guys are in rhythm and able to help him make the game easier.”
On top of that, there are not a lot of players his size who can handle the ball. O’Neal was certainly not doing that despite his obvious dominance at the NBA level.
“To have a big that does that? Yes,” Green finished. “Obviously, Timmy was capable, but he didn’t do it a lot, not as well. AD was capable, but he didn’t do it as much, but Joel, a guy that size to see him handle the ball as well as he does and move as well as he does is an anomaly.”
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