Showtime Sports (DR) / Rawel Visual
By Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Sports journalist
A strong supporter of Team USA during the Paris Olympic Games, Kevin Garnett was therefore obviously delighted with Joel Embiid’s coronation. On the other hand, he apparently did not appreciate the recent controversial outing of the pivot on the rest of his career.
Certainly copiously booed by the French public, whether in Lille or Bercy, it was he who laughed last. Joel Embiid indeed concluded the Paris Olympic Games in apotheosis, he who left with the gold that he had come to seek in the ranks of Team USA. From now on, it is another even more perilous mission that he wishes to fulfill, namely the conquest of a champion title. NBA with the 76ers.
Kevin Garnett ruthless on the Joel Embiid case
Untenable on the courts of the league last season, Embiid however only stepped on them too little to hope to win his first ring. His physical fragility therefore remains a matter of concern, including for him. This also explains its recent release on the load management to which he would now like to be subject. Kevin Garnett didn’t hear it that way in his podcast KG Certified :
Paul Pierce : How many matches do you think he should play?
Kevin Garnett: 82, man! That’s what the damn job demands. You haven’t even played that much this summer! If you had played on the playground, at the Olympics, then went on to training camp… There, you had time to rest! I don’t want to hear that.
Annoyed by this career choice which is emerging on the part of the pivot-star of Philadelphia, Garnett couldn’t help but compare this kind of attitude with that of the players of his time:
Kevin Garnett: We have compared the different eras enough like that. We respect the current era, but you can’t compare today’s players with the old ones.
By somehow imposing management of this kind on his coaches, Embiid risks, according to the legendary barker, causing more harm than anything else to his franchise:
Kevin Garnett: It’s going to hurt Philly, if only in terms of pace. One evening, you will have your star and the next day, you no longer have it!
For the moment, however, it is impossible to know whether the Philadelphia coaching staff will indeed take the big man’s recommendations into account. In the meantime, KG has directly addressed the NBA and its leaders in order to fight against what he seems to consider as a scourge:
Kevin Garnett: The league must ensure that all this is controlled. It’s becoming too prevalent. Seriously. And no one says anything! No one holds players responsible for doing this. So not only do they no longer train, but they no longer do back-to-backs?! Tss.
No need to read between the lines to understand that Kevin Garnett is not a fan of load management in the NBA. By demanding, as one might say, such preferential treatment, Joel Embiid therefore did not attract the sympathy of his illustrious elder.
