Daryl Morey blames surprising culprit for Joel Embiid All-Star snub

Apr 16, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) before game one of the first round for the 2022 NBA playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey is fuming about the fact that Joel Embiid was not named an All-Star starter, and he blamed one specific culprit for the snub.

In an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic’s “The Anthony Gargano Show” Friday, Morey blasted the “shameless Boston media” for holding Embiid’s vote tally down and preventing him from being named a starter.

“Joel Embiid, completely hosed again,” Morey said, as transcribed by Dan Roche of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “This time, to your point, the perpetrators of the crime were the shameless media, who — most of them have recused themselves because they don’t want to vote on something that affects players’ paychecks – but the shameless, shameless Boston media is way over-represented, and they haven’t recused themselves. And they shoved Joel low enough so that he’s not an All-Star starter, it’s crazy.”

All-Star starters are decided based on combined fan, player, and media votes. The fan vote accounts for 50 percent and the players and media make up the other 50 percent. Players are only classified between guards and frontcourt players, and only three of the latter can be selected.

Morey’s argument seems to be based on the media’s part of the voting results. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant were essentially locks, leaving the third and final spot between Embiid and Boston’s Jayson Tatum. According to the results released by the NBA, Embiid came in third among players and media, and fourth among fans. Tatum was similarly fourth among players and third among fans, but first in the media vote, ahead of even Antetokounmpo and Durant. Morey is more or less suggesting that Tatum’s status was down to the “over-represented” Boston media vote.

There is no real way for Morey to prove his argument, but it makes for a fun conspiracy theory. He is hardly alone in feeling that Embiid was snubbed, so plenty might just agree with him.