Shaq goes scorched earth on Sixers' Joel Embiid: 'Not going to win a championship'

Joel Embiid was rusty in his season debut Tuesday night, shooting 2-of-11 in the Sixers' 111-99 loss to the Knicks. The game marked Embiid's first taste of on-court action since the gold-medal game against France at the Paris Olympics in August. And as Yardbarker's Sean Keane highlighted, it was clear that Embiid's "conditioning still needs some work."

One would assume that other analysts would cut Embiid some slack and allow the former MVP to work himself back into in-game shape. However, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal showed no sympathy toward the Sixers star during TNT's "Inside the NBA" broadcast. The latter was particularly critical, going as far as to declare that Embiid would never win a championship unless he changed his mindset. 

Shaq was reacting to Embiid's postgame interview in which the latter said he wants to play in the back-to-back against the Cavaliers on Wednesday but isn't sure if the team's medical staff will clear him.

"He's not going to win a championship unless his attitude changes, and I meant what I said," Shaq said. "As the reigning president of the Big Man Alliance, I know what it takes to win a championship. As a leader, you have to lead by example. When you come in and say, 'I'm not gonna play back-to-backs,' it gives the guys who are not really focused time to say, 'He's not gonna play hard, I'm not gonna play hard.' When you come out and dominate, all the others can feed off of you and play well."

"How do you want to be remembered?" Shaq then asked Embiid. 

Shaq — who endured a lot of contact in the paint as a player — questioned why Embiid felt worn down since he spends most of his time shooting threes and playing away from the basket. Barkley raised a similar point, opining that Embiid likely shoots a lot of threes, so he has to cover less distance running back on defense.

Last year, Embiid was on pace to win back-to-back MVP awards before undergoing midseason surgery on his knee. He would return in the playoffs but prove ineffectual in his team's first-round loss to the Knicks.