A quick scan of social media reveals that a majority of people seem to disagree with this Kendrick Perkins take.

Here’s the former NBA player criticizing Joel Embiid, who earlier this week said he “hated the idea” of the Orlando bubble but explained that we would not opt out of the July return because he didn’t want to let his teammates and the city of Philadelphia down:

I’ll play devil’s advocate for the sake of the article:

Perkins is just questioning how much Embiid loves the game and how much he wants to win. That’s not an outrageous take, and God knows Embiid has heard it 400 times before, but it’s hard to justify in the middle of a global pandemic. If a guy feels a certain way because we don’t have a handle on a virus that’s sickened and killed a lot of people, then who are we to tell them what they should or shouldn’t do?

For context, here’s one of the quotes Joel dropped earlier in the week:

I’m not a big fan of the idea, but then again I’m going to do my job and won’t let the city down. I’m going to go represent my city, and that’s what I’ve always done. My family and my teammates (too). The mindset doesn’t change. It doesn’t matter, the fact that I don’t like the idea and still don’t believe in it and I don’t think it’s gonna be safe. I know I’m going to do the right things. I don’t ever do anything, I only play video games. I’m always home. I don’t trust those other guys to do the same, but like I said, I gotta do my job.”

It’s one thing for Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal to call Embiid lazy and criticize his on-court performances in the middle of a normal season. But when we’re asserting that a guy is a wussy for showing some concern during a global pandemic, then it just feels off-base to me.

Good morning.