The Playoff series between the Knicks and the Sixers offered rare intensity. At the heart of this battle a man, Joel Embiid, who crystallizes a lot of criticism concerning his game and many other things. In the lines below? A message from one of our editors, Céleste, a lifelong fan of the Sixers pivot. Good reading.
Joel, you probably won’t read these lines. If you come across this it’s because you’re looking at what’s being said on the Internet. And right now I think it’s the worst idea on Earth. Deep down I know that it doesn’t affect you, what people say, but here I am, I think they are being unfair to you, you who get into their heads so easily.
Joel, you’ve come a long way since university. From exciting young prospect to Top 5 most hated players – fact – of all time… It’s almost eight years since you’re third in the Top 3 of my favorite players, so don’t worry, my On the other hand, I will never add to the ranks of haters.
Why you marked me so much, I don’t think I’ll ever know the reason. Gotta see how you’ve been pissing me off lately. But you remain the player who made me start playing basketball, and therefore opened up some great horizons for me. Come to think of it, I think I actually know why I chose you, especially.
Athlete to six feet nine, I never wanted to get involved in basketball until high school. Thinking that profiles like mine were systematically relegated to screens and defensive rebounds, it was football that I was more interested in. Then Dirk Nowitzki taught me that we had the right to shoot, Giannis Antetokounmpo to run, and you to do… whatever we liked. Yes, we can switch to the rear without fear of getting hit, yes, we can take the last shot after a stepback from the Intermarché parking lot. And then of course we have the right to do two crossovers, a dribble behind the back and a fadeaway. I saw you in the Sixers jersey for the first time in 2016 and since then, I have never looked back.
Joel, we had some “you and me” moments, it happened so quickly. Your first two blank seasons which would have allowed me to – already – put you in my Top 50 all-time if you had played them in full. Your first basket in the NBA against the Thunder which was magnificent, with your footwork which was already going very quickly. Your rookie season where you would have finished ROY if you hadn’t gotten injured yet, and these Sixers who draft with their feet.
Your first Playoff series, won against Miami. 15 years old at the time, first time mom let me watch a game even though there was school the next day. Your 2019 season where I complained that you didn’t make the MVP podium. The title of best rebounder of the year which escapes you because Drummond was superhuman.
Joel, do you remember ? At the time my admiration for you was such that I spoke about you to everyone on the phone. I had your home and away jerseys, wallpapers of you galore, a figurine in your likeness because for me you were immortal. You were my role model. If you came back from all these passages under the scalpel and brought back a title to Philly, I said to myself that the adventure would be really great. Reminders every evening to watch you on TV, don’t talk to me about so-and-so’s evening, missing a single match would have been criminal, even if you missed more than me, who was always faithful to the call.
The 1 on 1 video with Tatum and Bamba. The plane in front of all of Canada. Kawhi’s shot that made me cry in front of my PC on the eve of the baccalaureate. Butler left because your front office was full of acorns. Your first shoes I wore until the coating came off. Those with the relief of the mountains of Cameroon on the sole. My first dunk in a match with socks bearing your image on my feet, given to me by my aunt for Christmas. Your turn-around jump shot that I copied, copied, and copied, like during geography tests at school.
The 2020 season spoiled by Simmons’ injury and the presence of Al Horford. Matisse Thybulle who defended like a madman. The more and more frequent throws, beginning to sow discord. The Karl-Anthony Towns episode and the big caning. Your two seasons with the idiot’s place at MVP because the Joker is too strong and you are too injured. Your bonus that Glenn Rivers came to ruin. The James Harden trade that made me hyper for nothing. The series against Atlanta and Boston that you had no right not to win.
Gallinari who comes to steal the ball from you to destroy your destiny. Tobias Harris peeing his pants live on TV. 5 major who still prefers to put Jordan Poole on poster rather than you, don’t mess around. The barely accepted realization that I watch the 76ers more than my favorite team. Against the Jazz, your almost quadruple-double was bad. Every Pacers fan I messed with, saying Maxey was the best Tyrese in the NBA. Your MVP title obtained, with me telling anyone who would listen that I had already announced it in college. Second time top scorer of the year.
At that time, you had become by far my favorite player. During a phase it was a place that you shared with the Greek from Milwaukee, but after 2021 I felt less of a root first for someone who has already finished the game. As if one of your children had become a Nobel Prize winner while the other had barely left kindergarten.
Your decision to join Team USA, ruining my hopes of seeing you play for my country with Wemby and Rudy. Nick Nurse who takes you out against the Spurs when you could have made 80 pawns. People who rejoice on Twitter about your injuries and illnesses. My inner heart begins to whisper to me that perhaps you would never be _%¤ &§?~.
We arrive at the first round of this year’s Playoffs. Favorite player or not, it was Melo’s Knickerbockers in 2011 that I swore my allegiance to. Jalen Brunson logically takes you out, I write the match recap on my PC. That night I didn’t celebrate like crazy like after Game 5 against the Cavs, I wasn’t happy with the victory, let’s just say I was satisfied. After this disillusionment, the public’s opinion was decided, you fell into an all-time club of hated players. I won’t talk about cleavage, I always found that it was a term used for someone that not many people could ignore. For three Playoff series that you should never have missed, you attached yourself to the image of a player who would never win. It’s something that always made me laugh, it’s the exact same thing they said about Giannis before his NBA title.
As for the reputation as a dangerous player, at times, you didn’t steal it. If we put you in a Top 15 dirty all-time player, it wouldn’t be undeserved. But it doesn’t bother me that much, deep down I love Bill Laimbeer and Dikembe. The throws, of course you could have abused them, rather light contacts, but most of the time you can’t do anything about it, if there’s a foul, the referee has to whistle, even if it’s annoying to see you shoot 14 times a night.
The French team, I am the first to be disappointed, and this is the only point where I will defend you. I find it so unfair, all these personalities against your coming to EDF who were offended by your letter leaked by RMC. The worst was when they came upon you after you refused to answer a journalist in French. While we had just leaked one of your letters where you revealed the living space of people you cared about, and our media took every word you said out of context. To call you bitter for this interview is to understand absolutely nothing about the NBA.
But now, in a league where Miles Bridges plays, you are the most hated player. Even your native country seems to have disowned you. But it really doesn’t matter, I’m sure you don’t care, worse, you like it. And we, “both”, have lived long enough. Certainly, I think that in leadership you still have a milestone to overcome, that you lose the ball too much and that you should stop your dribble-and-drives at 30 points which put you at risk of injury. But for me you are the best scorer, the most complete defender, the strongest in the entire NBA. So too bad if some dark moron wishes you the crusaders once in a while, I climbed on the ship Joel and I won’t get off until he arrives at the dock.
I think I’m looking at you and that I will look at you for a long time with my 13-year-old eyes. The same ones Arthur had when he left. Because that is above all your story, that of a young Cameroonian who started basketball late, who was sent to the United States, completely separated from his family for four years, who almost stopped everything when his little brother left him, who came back despite everything to win the title of NBA MVP. So for that and for all the other reasons I mentioned, I’m not afraid to say that I will probably never stop admiring you.
It’s not like I’m taking a lot of people to task, anyway, who’s going to go through with a 1,600-word text on Joel Embiid, without images, and without saying that he’s dangerous for the NBA.
2024-05-04 08:28:00
#Dear #Joel #Embiid #letter
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