Former Teammate Calls Out Joel Embiid's Work Ethic

Joel Embiid is a controversial NBA figure. At his peak, he is one of the best big men to play the game. His combination of scoring, passing, and defense is something that very few big men possess.  This earned him seven All-Star game selections and an MVP award. 

Unfortunately, that’s not all to the story of Embiid. Injuries have plagued his career, and he will likely be just as remembered for his untapped potential as for the heights he reached as a player. Embiid has never played 70 regular-season games in a season, and is known for flaming out early in the playoffs due to injury. 

While some of Embiid’s injury issues have just been bad luck, many also believe he hasn’t taken care of his body properly. Embiid is often criticized for playing overweight and not taking good care of his body. 

One of Embiid’s former teammates, Marcus Morris, also recently criticized the big man’s work ethic. 

“Just coming from different teams and seeing people at that level work as hard as they did, but not really seeing him do the same. Like, it kind of threw me off because his production still matched… He had 70 last year, bro. He did not f*cking warm up. Like, literally — he did not warm up. He might’ve came in twenty-two minutes before the game started — twenty-three minutes before the game started, bro — and went for 70. So, in his mind, I think he’s probably like, ‘Man, I’m better than n*ggas without even having to do that.’”

This is the conundrum with Embiid. He doesn’t even need to warm up to drop 70 points, but that lack of warm-up may have caused him injury in other scenarios. While Embiid is undoubtedly great when he is healthy, his lack of preparation and care for his body will define his disappointing career.