Charles Oakley once believed Joel Embiid could be an all-time great.
But the whining and losing has changed his mind.
“Everybody says he’s hurt,” Oakley said Tuesday on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s “The Starting Lineup” show. “If you’re hurt, stay home and watch it on TV like everybody else is doing. I don’t want hear this, ‘I’m giving it my all.’ You’re a seven-footer shooting 3s. I mean, you stand out around the 3-point line what the guards gonna do? So I think that, you know, they cry too much. All these guys in the league cry too much. He’s too big to be crying. I’m sorry I said about two years ago, he could be the next Wilt Chamberlain. I don’t know. He could be the next Dunkin Donut or somebody because he just cry.”
Embiid, who has never advanced out of the second round, enters Tuesday’s game with a 3-1 Sixers deficit and on the brink of elimination.
The 30-year-old dominated Game 3 with 50 points but has otherwise struggled, especially in a Game 4 dud at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.
He’s expected to draw the fury of Knicks fans on Tuesday, who will likely raise the volume on their “F–k Embiid” chants from Games 1 and 2, although he missed Tuesday’s morning shootaround with a migraine.
Josh Hart said he’s excited about the atmosphere.
“You love it. You love when your crowd is getting rowdy, bringing energy, passion and those kinds of things,” the Knicks forward said. “That’s why you play games at home. That’s the home-court advantage. The Garden was jumping Games 1 and 2. I’m sure they’re going to be jumping tonight. Hopefully we can feed off of that energy.”
Oakley, meanwhile, is much more impressed with Jalen Brunson, who he calls the best Knick since Clyde Frazier – even better than Oakley’s former teammate, Patrick Ewing.
“I’m talking about holding guys accountable. Having somebody that’s fun to play with. Being a real leader. And I think that when we played, our best player didn’t lead,” Oakley told The Post before the series. “I didn’t say he’s a better player [than Ewing]. He’s doing better things. Make the game more fun. Make people enjoy the game. Make players want to play want to play with him.”
