Stephen A.: The 76ers ABSOLUTELY made a mistake playing Joel Embiid in Game 2 | First Take

Stephen A.: The 76ers ABSOLUTELY made a mistake playing Joel Embiid in Game 2 | First Take

Stephen A. Smith explains why the 76ers should have sat Joel Embiid in Game 2 vs. the Boston Celtics, then Stephen A., Jay Williams and Brian Windhorst discuss LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

0:00 Stephen A.'s thoughts on Game 2
2:13 JWill is proud of Embiid
6:48 Can LeBron James and Anthony Davis sustain playing high minutes?

#ESPN #NBA #FirstTake

[ianbarbaros]

A new documentary is coming out about Joel's mvp year its called "Free throws & tears"

[howarddavis]

Giannis came back of injury dropped a triple double in a loss after his team won without him and he got clowned, but embiid get a pass for his trash game off injury 🤦🏿‍♂️

[ye.ha.]

the media when joel plays like dog s*it: we are so proud of him of him playing through injury
when joker plays amazing with a g league of a team the media : he doesn't perform in the playoffs

[salezvr]

too many excuses for embid, everyone is playing injured, you have 2 mvp on the team and you lose by 40 points

[yaz]

This is a stupid question because the Lakers have no choice but to play Lebron and AD 40+ minutes. Jay is totally on point with his take

[allenmasuda]

He’s not injured. All made up to protect his mvp.

[lordtachanka]

I’m tired of all these excuses embiid chose to be back no one forced him give credit to the Celtics they obliterated them

[ItsYent]

People really trying to give Embiid an excuse 😂😂 he stepped on that court he was ready

[titoskesar]

Against Brooklyn he was healthy and had the same numbers with half his points coming from free throws again. The problem is not injured Embiid the problem is playoffs Embiid

[Giddywiddy]

I think playing him first on the road is better than at home so you can get the rust out

[iNuggs]

Look at how all of this turned out... The MVP meant so much to Embiid, he put 120% into the last month of the season and put all of his effort into winning the award, ultimately finding himself injured in the second round. Jokic largely pulled himself out of the race (even though he was the clear winner anyway) and put himself and his team in a good position for the playoffs to end the season. After last nights MVP showcase game for Embiid, which team would you argue is in the better position? Denver looks like the best team in the playoffs and Philly might not win another game... Congrats on your MVP though, Joel

[minnuss]

Whenever I listen to Brian Windhorst speak about Embiid, I can't help but wonder if he's on his payroll.

[respectbegetsrespect]

I beg to differ because I don't believe rust compromised Philly's chance of winning Game 2. Joel had to come back at some point which would have caused the same effect. Plus, he's still adjusting to the braces on his leg. The problem is that stars, superstars, players in general, don't know how to balance the talents they have on the court. Joel coming back shouldn't have caused a lack of ball movement. Teams haven't figured out how to share the ball so all players on court can effect the game. Harden, Maxey and them don't have to dim their talents because Joel is playing. They are an extension of Joel, not a shadow. They've got to figure out how they can and will get all players involved. Plus, Celtics happened! They knew they let Game 1 get away from them so they came out militant. If Joel didn't come back they still would have won. They played together and played their style of basketball. My eyes are on Tatum though, cause what happened last season can't happen again. 👀

[babesababe]

Embiid was feeling himself after winning the MVP, he wanted to be out there.

[rjl]

why is it a mistake lmao. they already stole game 1 they were gonna lose this game anyways. It was a good game to get joel back in rythm for game 3

[waltersykes]

J Will "god forbid we ask a 30 year old to play 40 minutes a game"...😂

[BigBen]

Y'all forgetting Jayson Tatum only scored 7pts and they blew out the sixers lol 😂😂

[topsykretts]

76ers think they won the championship already because Embiid got the MVP who’s overrated btw. People finally felt sorry enough for him. 😂 Jokic got robbed because of voters fatigue.

Windhorst looks like he keeps bottles of sprite and lays BBQ chips under the desk for when the segments end

[NETBU]

media people are so annoying and confusing....
MEDIA: fans want to see you play
MEDIA: play through your injury, show your team that they need you
MEDIA: he's hurt, back too early...let him rest more
MEDIA: ban load management