Many analysts picked the Philadelphia 76ers as a dark horse to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and potentially even knock off LeBron James, but they were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in five games on Wednesday night. Despite the disappointing result, Joel Embiid says the Sixers are as optimistic as ever.
While speaking with reporters after the game, Embiid compared himself and Ben Simmons to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, noting that the former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates struggled in their first season together.
“Me and Ben, we have a lot of room to grow,” Embiid said. “I was thinking about it, just looking at (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook), what they did their first season together. I think they only won like 28 games or something like that. Looking at what we did, we’ve got a bright future.”
Simmons apparently shares the same level of confidence, as Embiid revealed that the 21-year-old came up to him after Wednesday’s loss and said the duo is going to win a lot of championships together.
“At the end of the game (Simmons) came up to me and showed me his hands and was like, ‘There’s gonna be a lot of rings on these.’ I was like, ‘For sure.'”
If you’re talking about winning titles together, Durant and Westbrook isn’t the best comparison. But we get the point, and Embiid and his young teammates clearly aren’t getting discouraged no matter how much their mantra is mocked on social media.
