“Joel, does he want to win?” – Gilbert Arenas DISSES MVP Joel Embiid, questions All-star’s mentality against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard

Andre Iguodala and Gilbert Arenas thrash Joel Embiid.

“Joel, does he want to win?” – Gilbert Arenas DISSES MVP Joel Embiid, questions All-star’s mentality against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard

Joel Embiid and Gilbert Arenas (image via Getty Images)

Joel Embiid has often been attributed as someone who keeps quiet and does his work. He’s not one of those who will show off and oftentimes, these attributions are linked to him not winning a championship. Talking about the same, Andre Iguodala and Gilbert Arenas on the new Gil’s Arena show uploaded, said that Embiid doesn’t look like he wants to win.

Thrashing Joel Embiid and his mentality, Gilbert said, “Joel, does he want to win?” Then continuing on what actually is needed, he said, “He needs a Dame type mentality…….. He needs a Westbrook, someone who’s going to demand and tell him nah we ain’t doing that sh**. He needs that type of personality because he is the type of person to step up in that kind of environment but if the environment’s not there it’s just his environment.”

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The duo then continued talking and drawing parallels between Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard but they could not for sure say that Howard is the same as Embiid. What they concluded was that nobody is “telling Joel to play harder” which is why both of them think, he needs a good leader behind him who will push him to his playing limits and make him a beast, much better than what he presently is. Amidst talks of him leaving the 76ers, there are apprehensions about him leaving to grab a ring somewhere else, which would be contradictory to Arenas’ statements.

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Also Read: “Serbian flu” – Joel Embiid is AVOIDING matchup with Nikola Jokic, Philly’s All-star gets roasted by Richard Jefferson

What is “Missing” in Joel Embiid according to Gilbert Arenas?

Joel Embiid
Joel Embiid (image via Getty Images)

They compared Joel with greats from the previous generations and talked about what made them great, he said, “What made Michael great, what made Kobe great, they had the natural gift and the highest work ethic.” Drawing parallels to the current era, one would look at the Greek Freak – Giannis Antetokounmpo and how honest he works on his game. According to Arenas and Iguodala, this is missing in Embiid.

According to them, Joel doesn’t put much effort because everything comes easy to him. He talked about how Kobe called Shaq “lazy”, which fuelled his desire to play better for the team. This, according to him, is missing in Embiid’s life as nobody is there to fuel his anger and maintain his dominance on the court. This is not the first time that Arenas has thrashed Embiid though. However, it remains a question of whether Embiid is paying heed to his accusation.

Whether or not that can actually happen is something for the future to decide. As he aspires to be in a team which has the potential to win the ring, potentially something that can be worked out or not regarding the “leader” situation is unclear. Regardless, he will continue to work hard and prove his mettle on the field.

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