NBA
Shaquille O’Neal shared his honest thoughts about 76ers’ Joel Embiid
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated4 hours ago on September 19, 2025
Over the last two seasons, 76ers’ Joel Embiid has played in just 58 regular-season games. Lingering injuries have kept the one-time league MVP off the court. Last season, he played in just 19 games for Philadelphia.
Shaquille O’Neal is a Hall of Fame basketball player turned analyst, and has been doing so since 2011. The four-time NBA champion has never been shy to criticise current players. Specifically, centers that he believes in. One of those players is Joel Embiid. Recently, O’Neal did not hold back and said that Embiid cannot take the heat.
Shaquille O’Neal is done wondering if Joel Embiid will ever reach his potential
Shaquille O’Neal squashed his beef with Dwight Howard, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with another prominent big man.https://t.co/4QJdNGYDar
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) September 13, 2025
As one of the most dominant big men in NBA history, Shaquille O’Neal is often hyper-critical of the league’s top frontcourt players. Two of his favorites are Denver’s Joel Embiid and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid used to be on that list, but O’Neal has lost faith in the one-time MVP. He spoke with HoopsHype and said that Joel Embiid cannot handle it when he gives him tough criticism.
Shaquille O’Neal wouldn’t be so hard on Joel Embiid if he didn’t have all that talent and potential. When healthy, Embiid is one of the most skilled centers in the modern NBA. He’s led the league in scoring twice and won MVP in 2022-23. However, the 31-year-old has had unfortunate injury luck in recent history.
Not only does Joel Embiid look great physically, he took a lot of weight off his shoulders mentally.
An offseason where Embiid came out to release decade long trauma, expose the truth, and find peace.
We are going to see a different Joel Embiid going forward this season. pic.twitter.com/Tvr5y4uBeD
— Aidan Doc 🧸 (@AidanDoc__) September 16, 2025
Joel Embiid needs to block the outside noise and focus on being available for the 76ers in 2025-26. In April 2025, the big man had surgery on his knee. It’s unknown if Embiid will be ready for the start of the upcoming season. The success of the 76ers hinges on Joel Embiid being available for a majority of the regular season. Philadelphia missed the playoffs last season for the first time in seven seasons.
NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal is not the only prominent media figure to vocally criticise Joel Embiid. It’s easy to pick on Embiid over the last two seasons when he hasn’t been available for the 76ers. The seven-time all-star has a chance to silence his critics with a dominant 2025-26 campaign. The last Embiid stayed healthy and played 65+ games; he was named MVP. When healthy, he is still a top-five player in the NBA. Can Joel Embiid overcome his injuries and play most of the 2025-26 season?
