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Knicks legend rips 76ers' Joel Embiid for 'crying too much'
Joel Embiid has always worn his emotions on his sleeve and hasn't shied away from shedding tears on camera, be it at postgame pressers, award ceremonies or even after season-ending losses.
Since returning from midseason knee surgery, an emotional Embiid has spoken in length about the physical and mental torment he's had to endure to return to the court. After dropping a playoff-high 50 points last week, Embiid almost sounded like a man who feels the universe has wronged him.
"Every single year, it's very annoying. Maybe it's just meant to be," Embiid said of his misfortune with injuries via SixersWire. "Just got to take it as it is, but the one thing I'm not going to do is give up. No matter what happens, got to keep pushing, got to keep fighting."
Most would applaud those words and hail Embiid a warrior.
But Knicks legend Charles Oakley is tired of hearing the Sixers big man "crying" and making excuses.
"Everybody says he's hurt," Oakley told SiriusXM NBA Radio via New York Post. "If you're hurt, stay home and watch it on TV like everybody else is doing. 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? So I think that, you know, they cry too much.
"All these guys in the league cry too much. He's 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."
Despite laboring through injury, Embiid is averaging 31.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists through five games in these playoffs. The Sixers trail the Knicks 3-2 in the series.
More must-reads:
- Joel Embiid joins group of current and future Hall of Famers for all the wrong reasons
- Tyrese Maxey compared to former Knicks-killer after Game 5 heroics
- The 'NBA minutes leaders by season' quiz
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Celtics Seeking Another Blockbuster Trade on $100 Million Scorer
The Celtics need not be in a hurry to get further under the NBA's luxury tax threshold, now that they've successfully navigated the dreaded second apron, unloading stars Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in trades and letting the likes of Luke Kornet and, likely soon, Al Horford walk in free agency. Still, Boston is looking to create as much flexibility as possible this season, with star forward Jayson Tatum out for the year with an Achilles tendon tear and the roster generally depleted all around, as the Celtics begin paying the cost for the contracts team honcho Brad Stevens handed out as they were winning the 2024 NBA championship. That means the chief prize the Celtics got back in making the trade that sent Holiday to the Blazers--Anfernee Simons, the 26-year-old scorer who is in the final year of a four-year, $100 million contract--is still available on the trade market, according to league insider Jake Fischer. Celtics Salary Dumps Continue The Celtics did make one salary-dump trade this week, sending Georges Niang to Utah. Niang was owed $8.2 million for the 2025-26 season, and is now the Jazz's problem. He was sent to Boston in the Porzingis trade. Writes Fischer on The Stein Line substack on Sunday: "The Celtics discussed trading Niang with various teams around the league, sources say, in their continued salary-shaving campaign following the luxury-tax-slashing trades that shipped out Jrue Holiday and Porzingis. "The expectation persists, furthermore, that Boston will continue to invite trade discussion involving Anfernee Simons from now through next season's trade deadline on Feb. 5 at 3 PM ET." Simons averaged 19.3 points per game last season in Portland, and was down somewhat on his 3-point shooting, at 36.3%. Still, he should bounce back, as he is a 38.1% career 3-point shooter, and if he returns to form, his market value will only get that much stronger ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
Las Vegas Raiders finally find a solution to a problem that has emerged since the beginning of training camp
When training camp started for the Las Vegas Raiders, they had a ton of depth all around the roster. But, after one week, they did a scrimmage, and that depth instantly went down. During the scrimmage, backup safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. got hurt and suffered an injury that is bound to keep him out for a while. Now, he will be back at some point, because, as head coach Pete Carroll said, the Raiders want and need him. So, they finally made a move in replacing him. The Raiders signed a guy who can give them some experience in a pretty young position group. Raiders sign safety Terrell Edmunds Terrell Edmunds played college football at Virginia Tech from 2015 to 2017, leading to his selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Edmunds spent five seasons with the Steelers from 2018–2022, playing 79 games, starting 75, and racking up 410 tackles, 5 sacks, five interceptions, and 26 passes defended. His best year was 2019 with 105 tackles. After the Steelers declined his fifth-year option, he re-signed for 2022 but moved on in 2023, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans. In 2024, he briefly joined the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, he’s been jumping from practice squad to practice squad, but is looking to be a depth piece on the Raiders. Edmunds adds a veteran pretense to a room that has Chris Smith and Trey Taylor, two young guys who have never really played a full-time role in the defensive backfield. If Isaiah Pola-Mao and Jeremy Chinn went down, those two would be next in line, with little to no experience. So, the Raiders quickly got on the phone with Lonnie Johnson Jr. went down, but are finally making a change to the roster, bringing depth and experience. This is a very solid signing for the new regime.
Leafs’ Proposed Blockbuster Trade Could Jeopardize Future
A recent trade pitch suggesting the Toronto Maple Leafs acquire Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell from the Pittsburgh Penguins is undeniably a bold and wild idea. With that in mind, it’s not the kind of trade that makes a ton of sense for Toronto, even if both players are legitimate goal scorers — especially considering what Toronto would have to give up to acquire both players. The likelihood that the Maple Leafs are seeking a trade for both wingers is low to begin with. That they’d be willing to part with a new trade acquisition, one of their more steady defensemen, a high-ceiling winger, and the team’s top prospect is an even more fascinating suggestion. Toronto Isn’t About To Abandon Their Game Plan The suggested trade was as follows: Maple Leafs Acquire: Bryan Rust ($5,125,000) Rickard Rakell ($5,000,000) Penguins Acquire: Nick Robertson ($1,825,000) Jake McCabe ($4,491,898) Matias Maccelli ($3,425,000) Easton Cowan ($873,500) While Rust and Rakell bring impressive goal-scoring credentials — combining for 66 goals last season — the Leafs have just added Matias Maccelli, a promising winger signed to what they hope is a value contract this offseason. On top of that, they’ve invested heavily in Jake McCabe on defense and have Easton Cowan, arguably their best prospect, waiting in the wings. Nick Robertson may be on the move, so his inclusion makes sense, but there’s been no suggestion, whatsoever, that the Leafs are open to moving any of the other three. No doubt, you have to give to get. That said, trading away these useful, cost-controlled assets for veterans like Rust and Rakell seems like a shortsighted mistake. Maccelli’s acquisition signals the Leafs are looking to build with youth, speed, and skill, while McCabe provides a steady defensive presence — something the Maple Leafs desperately need to maintain. Easton Cowan, meanwhile, presents arguably the best future replacement for the offensive output lost with Mitch Marner’s departure. Is There A World In Which Toronto Would Consider This Blockbuster Trade? Never say never. There is no doubt this would be a big swing by Toronto. And, it would add goal scoring in a significant way. That said, given the current roster construction, why would Toronto create obvious holes on their blue line, in the system, and move a player they believe could be a key offensive contributor in Maccelli? This would be GM Brad Treliving mortgaging everything on two Penguins players, who reportedly don’t want to go anywhere — one of whom has an eight-team no-trade clause. This trade screams 2025-25 Cup run, and an attempt to outscore other problems in the present day. Ultimately, this proposed trade serves as an interesting talking point, but it doesn’t quite pass the smell test for a Leafs team focused on a blend of youth and experience heading into the new season.
Shedeur Sanders believed to be heading toward starting QB job
As the QB4 on the most recent depth chart, Shedeur Sanders will not jump to becoming the Cleveland Browns starter following his impressive performance against the Carolina Panthers on Friday night. However, the fifth-round pick is trending toward moving up the depth chart this summer after going 14-of-23 passing for 138 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers. Per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Sanders is "likely" going to become the Browns' starter at some point in the upcoming season. "Depending on who’s healthy, the veterans might still get the bulk of work with the ones in the joint practices, while the rookies split the game," Cabot wrote of the Browns' next preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday. "It will be another chance for Sanders to knock the Browns’ socks off, and keep himself alive in the race. "But it will still be tough for him to be ready to start less than a month from now when he has yet to throw his first pass to Jerry Jeudy or Cedric Tillman, or take a snap from starting center Ethan Pocic. He’s building up to that, and it will likely happen at some point this season, but the Browns have a veteran ready to step in and hold down the fort, and there’s no rush to start the rookies before they’re ready." The Browns kept Sanders away from the first-team unit during OTAs in training camp while he got caught up with pre-snap procedures. Per Cabot, the next step for Sanders is to become adjusted to the speed of the NFL game. In order to do so, he'll have to face tougher opponents than the Panthers in the preseason. "The defenders are so much bigger and faster at this level, he might not be able to pull off some of the same off-schedule plays he did at Colorado, at least not yet," Cabot wrote. "He’s coming fast up the learning curve, but facing backups for most of a preseason game is different than opposing a Ravens defense or the top-five units of the Packers and Jets." It's unclear what timeline Cabot believes the Browns will have for Sanders to adjust to the league before he earns playing time on Sunday during the regular season. However, it seems more likely than not that the Browns want to see if Sanders has what it takes to be a starter in the league before they consider taking a quarterback in the 2026 draft. (Cabot didn't write the same about third-round pick Dillon Gabriel.) Sanders showed that he has the arm talent to play the position at the NFL level. But the decision-making process is the hard part to master and the reason why Joe Flacco is a safe bet for the Browns until head coach Kevin Stefanski thinks Sanders is ready.
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