The immediate fallout of the Raptors demolition of the Sixers was amplified by national pundits like Shaq and Charles Barkley laying into Joel Embiid’s inability to overcome illness, I wondered if anyone on NBC Sports Philadelphia would do the same. It’s easy for a national guy to spew vitriol at a player, since they aren’t going to be in contact with him. The same can’t always be said for local analysts, who often need to beware of being too critical for fear of upsetting their corporate overlords. Enter Marc Jackson, who audibly noted his need to word his feelings so as to keep his job:

https://twitter.com/ssiano78/status/1125963061163175936

Here are the facts. The facts are you deserve that criticism, because when you are the poster child for the team, and most of the time -more than the majority of the games in the playoffs- you’ve been doubtful, you’ve been questionable, you deserve the criticism. You are the star. I don’t see Boban, I don’t see Amir Johnson, I don’t see Zhaire Smith getting criticism, because they’re not the franchise players. If you wanna be the superstar of the team, you have to accept what comes with the territory…

The facts are what they are. So, yes he’s gonna get the criticism, because he’s the man… People are gonna criticize you when it’s time for the playoffs, when it’s time to advance, and you’re not 100%. The facts are the majority of the games, he has not been ready to go. It’s always been something. So he’s gonna get that criticism; that comes with the territory of any superstar player on any team.

“Damn.” – Jim Lynam and Marc Zumoff, probably.

He’s not wrong. Ben Simmons has been absolutely invisible in this series, I’ll give that to anyone who wants to argue it. However, this team revolves around Joel Embiid. If he can’t be anything close to himself, he shouldn’t play. I’d argue based on what we saw in game 4, he shouldn’t have played last night. Give the guy a few days to rest up and get ready for game 6. More importantly, keep whatever illness he has away from the rest of the team.

Not great.