Charles Barkley has called out Joel Embiid over his underwhelming Olympic campaign and says he needs to use it as a learning experience.
Embiid has averaged 9.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game on 42.1 percent shooting at the Olympics so far, getting benched in the second half against Serbia and notching a DNP against South Sudan.
Barkley believes Embiid needs to use his disappointing Olympic experience as fuel to make some adjustments when the next NBA season arrives.
“I hope this is a wake-up [call] for Joel, this Olympic experience,” Barkley said on Paul George’s podcast. “He has not played well, and I’m hoping he’s like, ‘Yo, man, I got to get in better shape. … I got to get healthy, because if we don’t win the championship or go deep in the playoffs, it’s going to be because of me.’”
Barkley added that he hoped Embiid’s Olympic campaign would open his mind to taking a back seat to 76ers co-stars Paul George and Tyrese Maxey at times.
“He’s got to be like, ‘OK, it’s Paul’s night. OK, it’s [Maxey]’s night. What can I do when I don’t get the ball?’”
George himself said he knows what it’s like to go through a major role adjustment on Team USA and that he’d told Embiid to keep an open mind in Paris.
“Just try to find a way to stay engaged and challenge yourself in a different way than you would do in the NBA,” George recalled telling Embiid. “We had a good talk about that.”
Embiid and Team USA will return to the floor on Tuesday when they face Brazil in the quarterfinals.
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