NBA
What’s behind Joel Embiid’s post on X during Game 3 of the NBA Finals?
The Philadelphia 76ers’ center vividly commented on the consequential favor the Celtics received from a player swap with the Milwaukee Bucks.
During tonight’s Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics won away against the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 and came to a highly favorable 3-0 score in the series, So favorable that not a single team in the 156 times that occurred in the NBA playoffs, has managed to come back from a 3-0 lead. During the game, like during the whole duration of this year’s playoffs, one of the most critical parts of the Celtics defense was played by the three-time member of NBA All-Defense teams and NBA champion Jrue Holiday.
Jrue came to the Celtics after a huge mega swap deal between three teams: the Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Boston Celtics. The deal involved many players changing teams and future draft picks. Only shortsighted would not see the excellent opportunity for the player and the Celtics team where he ended up. That opportunity to reach the highest levels of excellence and chance to win a title for the Celtics. After blending in effortlessly in the lineup just before the start of the playoffs, Holiday agreed to a 4-year, $135 million contract extension with the Celtics with $100 million guaranteed, which runs until the end of the 2027–2028 season. It was indeed a confirmation of the team’s executives in his abilities and the wish to give him a moral boost and motivation. And it helped...
It helped so much that even the 76ers center and former league MVP, Joel Embiid, posted his honest opinion and question during game 3,
And watching Jrue playing in these Finals series gives us very little to doubt about Embiid’s take. The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t do much with their great acquisition, Lillard; they only managed to change a reasonably good coach (Griffin) for a coach (Rivers) who had a worse score at the end of the season than the first one.
We never saw a recognizable style of play between the two stars, Giannis and Damian. At the same time, the consequential victim, Holiday, just improved the new environment where he went and progressed to a new level—the one with the Championship ring in it.