The thing about this Joel Embiid milestone is that it feels old school.
The reigning NBA MVP started his career on the injured list. But unlike Greg Oden and James Wiseman, he was able to rise above his injuries en route to a superstar career.
In some ways, he should have been Victor Wembanyama's archetype because right now, his rookie career is kind of underwhelming. Yes, his numbers are awesome for a rookie at the moment, but the San Antonio Spurs see him as a savior. Like Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich engineered a bad season to make a play for a top overall pick. When Duncan arrived in San Antonio, David Robinson barely played most of the previous season, Sean Elliott also missed half of the season, and Dominique Wilkins was on the verge of retirement. In defense of Wemby, the Spurs were unable to sign up the best veterans because most of them were on the big market squads.
I also believe that Pop needs to retire from coaching.
His last winning season was five years ago, and I doubt that the 2023-24 season will produce positive results - hence the earlier paragraphs.
Returning to Embiid, again I feel that his 70 points have an NBA old-school vibe.
Embiid is a big guy that made most of his shots in the 2-point area. Apart from that one turnaround triple, most of his moves were either sizing up Wemby with a mid-range shot or attacking the rim with a power move. His mid-range bombs were channeling Bill Russell and his dominance is giving off Wilt Chamberlain vibes.
He also did this on the anniversary of Kobe Bryant's 81-point game - which was also a couple of days away from his unfortunate passing. And it's not like he was the only player to make a milestone. Joel Embiid's 70 might have overshadowed Karl-Anthony Towns' 62-point game, Luka Doncic's epic triple-double record, and Kevin Durant's game-winner.
I think the NBA needs to review their physicality rules. This is another reason why I see Joel Embiid's 70 points with old-school vibes.
It feels like the NBA is channeling the '60s era when the stars were always scoring in their 30s, 40s, or 50s. The only difference is that the three-point area is heavily used and the other statistical categories are recorded. Chamberlain's onslaught caused the league to reconfigure its rules, which is why the '70s was more of an adjustment era for the '80s. The league overvalued the offensive plays and the physicality has waned.
No, I don't want the NBA to breed the next Kermit Washington or the Zaza Pachulia but sooner or later, constantly hitting 90 points after three quarters is going to be an issue.
As for Embiid, hopefully, this sparks his Philadelphia 76ers to score at least an Eastern Conference Finals push in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.