Celtics

Joel Embiid weighed in on Jayson Tatum’s ‘super team’

“If I go 5 for 20, we get blown out.”

By Sanjana Mishra

July 24, 2024

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There’s no denying that it’s been a great year for Boston superstar Jayson Tatum after the Celtics’ win last month gave them their 18th championship. But according to fellow top NBA player Joel Embiid, Tatum is lucky to be on the “super team.”

The Philadelphia 76ers center referenced Tatum during a podcast appearance on the Check Ball Show co-hosted by Drew Hanlen and Austin J. Mills, saying, “If I go 5 for 20, we get blown out.”

The comment was in response to Hanlen, who coaches both Embiid and Tatum, doing an impression of Embiid, who “gives [him] trouble about Jayson.”

“He’s got a super team. You know what I mean? If I had a super team too, I would win too,” mimicked Hanlen, in what was also a subtle diss to Embiid’s Sixers.

The Celtics, of course, won the 2024 NBA title with Tatum joined by fellow stars Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porzingis (who was hurt for most of the playoffs). Embiid’s Sixers have struggled to find the right mix but currently employ star guard Tyrese Maxey, and recently added Paul George.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, the 2023 NBA MVP attested that he could’ve been in the talks for the greatest player of all time if it hadn’t been for his injuries. Embiid has never won a championship, with the Sixers frequently going out early in the playoffs, including several times against the Celtics.

Embiid also stated in the Times interview that “the LeBron [James] now is not the LeBron that was a couple of years ago,” and that his name has been built over a steady career, but is now older.

Embiid, who averaged 34.7 points per game last season, will join Tatum and James as part of the Team USA men’s basketball lineup for their first game of the Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 28.