The Philadelphia 76ers are coming off yet another drama-filled offseason, and Charles Barkley thinks they are running the risk of losing their best player.
Barkley, who played for the 76ers for the first eight years of his Hall of Fame career, issued a warning to his former team after they lost their season opener to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night. During TNT’s postgame show, Barkley said the 76ers are getting close to running Joel Embiid out of town.
“The Sixers are on thin ice right now with their MVP,” Barkley said. “If I’m Joel Embiid … first of all, you guys chose between Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons. You all chose that, now. Then I had to go through the Simmons thing. Now, I’m in the middle of my prime. I’m MVP. I’ve been second two times and I’ve won one. And I’ve got to deal with this noise.
“It’s no doubt in my mind Joel Embiid gonna say, ‘You know what? No hard feelings. I gotta go.’”
Barkley was certainly speaking from a place of experience. The 76ers traded him to the Phoenix Suns in 1992 after he was frustrated with the direction of the team. He has admitted in the past that he did not want to play for a “bad organization” anymore.
Will Embiid eventually feel the same way about his 76ers? There have been multiple signs that he is growing tired of the drama in Philly. Embiid has been saying for years that fans need to “trust the process” and has even made it his nickname, but you have to wonder if he trusts it anymore. Barkley thinks the breaking point may be rapidly approaching.
