Here's the thing. We should appreciate just how hysterical a proud professional athlete was made by what was, historically speaking, an unprecedentedly devastating defeat. We're talking about a guy that overcame spending the vast majority of life to date in Cameroon only to eventually come stateside and develop into premier prospect before having to overcome what quickly started to seem like a career-threatening inability to stay healthy enough to scratch even the surface of his sky-high potential. In theory, if there were an NBA player that reserved the right to have himself a judgement-free ugly cry after potentially coming within a quarter-inch of his first Conference Finals' appearance then it's one who has already fought a treacherous uphill battle to get where he currently is in his promising career.
Unfortunately, the player in question is one who has long forfeited the right to play the innocent victim of juvenile jokes in making a bi-weekly habit of unconditionally trolling every opponent he's ever gone up against. We're talking about Joel Embiid here. Much like your hilarious Uncle wanting nothing more than for his funeral to be turned into a light-hearted roast of reverence, the perpetually petty Sixers' big man would have wanted the tearful loss of his playoff life to be used as comic relief following the most dramatic of postseason deaths. If not then he'd be a hypocrite, as had that ball bounced 6 tenths of an inch one way as opposed to a half dozen the other he'd be the first one pointing and laughing at Kawhi Leonard's slightly constipated expression in preparation for overtime. Respecting how much that game meant to Joel Embiid and making fun of him for being one pint of ice cream away from looking like the stereotypical dumpee in a sitcom are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the latter might as well be seen as a tribute to his generally jovial and persistently childish demeanor as someone whose as much a class clown as he is a dominant force on the basketball court. When it comes to getting these jokes off, dude is more efficient and creative than Nikola Jokic when dishing it, so I'm absolutely certain he can take it after leaving more salt water in his wake than a speed boat.
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