The Cream City and the City of Brotherly Love.
Two great cities are home to Eastern Conference stars: Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Both players entered the league at each franchise’s most forgettable time. Giannis was drafted in 2013, and Embiid in 2014. Both players have won the MVP Award: Giannis in 2019 and 2020 and Embiid in 2023.
The two have resurrected their teams respective from irrelevance. Some pundits claim it’s a toss-up between the two.
But to be clear, one has done objectively much better than the other. When you win the title, there is no subjectivity on who has done more to bring a franchise back to relevance.
The Sixers and Bucks each started the season poorly. Milwaukee has resurfaced as of late, now 8-9 after starting 1-6. Philly, on the other hand, is now 3-13.
Can you guess who is featured in a negative light over the other?
There’s Love in Green Bay but not for the Goat in Milwaukee
It’s incredible how often Giannis Antetokounmpo has to play defense OFF the court.
After 12 years in the league, two MVPs, a DPOY, a Finals MVP, and a Larry O’Brien trophy, we can hopefully move past mispronouncing his last name. However, this is not as big of an issue as the rhetoric the media tries to push— “Giannis hates the team after a bad loss, wants out of Milwaukee, and the Bucks slide back into irrelevance.”
It is true, fans are not irrational. No Giannis? No relevancy for the Bucks franchise. However, the constant pursuit for him to be traded, to opt out of his contract, or to just flat-out lose, needs to be studied in a lab.
Our timelines get (dis)graced with the most absurd things:
ESPN’s Neil Paine wrote a piece on teams’ panic meter. After stringing together a couple of wins, he pinned the Bucks as a “high panic” team at 5-9. This is a team whose star has been putting not only the organization, but the entire city on his back to get wins as they claw up the standings in the Eastern Conference.
Paine goes on to say in a subsequent subsection that the 76ers are only “on edge,” due to the “fearsome trio” of Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George.
Lots of Brotherly Love for a Team Who Lacks it Most
There is no doubt Embiid has done a lot for the city of Philadelphia.
He had put the team back on the map as playoff contenders. The Process scratched his team to the second round in his first full year as a Sixer. Since then, he has made the second round in four out of his seven appearances in the postseason. In doing so, he has put his body on the line, racking up knee, foot, and even face injuries.
Oh, and he let the media hear all about it.
With an extremely slow start to the season, Maxey allegedly called out Embiid on his chronic tardiness during a players’ meeting. Embiid, instead of taking ownership of what happened in the meeting, went on to say whoever leaked the information was a “real piece of s***.”
JoJo has yet to get a win for his crew in four appearances. This includes him also ducking the scorching-hot Cleveland Cavaliers in the second game of a back-to-back.
We all know how he feels about back-to-backs.
Will The Narrative Ever Change?
It’s clear: Search “Giannis wants out” and you’ll find sports outlets like CBS, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports and more, pushing for his departure from Milwaukee. Search “Embiid wants out” and you might be lucky to find a fan-created thread on Reddit.
When I think of the two stars:
There’s a man whose leg bent BACKWARDS in the Eastern Conference Finals of 2021 and went on to score 50 to win a championship.
And
A man who cried when he lost to Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs, flopped his way to the MVP, and now, calls the media, pieces of s***.
It’s uncertain if the media will ever stop demonizing Giannis and the Bucks. It’s unclear if the media will ever hold Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers to a higher standard.
I don’t wish for Joel Embiid and the Sixers’ demise. However, Embiid being humbled this season will be sweeter for NBA fans than the media’s so-called demise of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
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