Joel Embiid's ignorant shot at Jayson Tatum 'especially bad' due to stars' synergies

Joel Embiid took an ignorant shot at Jayson Tatum during an appearance on the “Check Ball Show" with Drew Hanlen, Austin Mills, and Frankie Delgado -- claiming that if the Philadelphia 76ers big man had a 5/20 performance from the field, his team would get blown out.

As NESN's Gio Rivera points out, Embiid of all people should understand why Tatum would have such a down game.

"Neglecting the defensive pressure Tatum drew of constant double — and sometimes — triple-team coverages throughout the postseason is willful ignorance; especially bad for Embiid, who too, is routinely covered by multiple defenders as arguably the league’s most dominant center," Rivera wrote.

To Embiid's credit, the Sixers can't survive a down game from him. If he's not knocking down his mid-range shots and failing to shamelessly draw free-throws, Philly has not had the talent to cover that gap. Daryl Morey has aimed to correct that this offseason by adding a stick of dynamite scorer like Paul George and supporting cast members like Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, and most recently, Reggie Jackson who can all fill it up some nights. Retaining Tyrese Maxey is the main move to prove to Embiid that Morey is building a contender.

But Embiid is probably swiping Tatum because No. 0 has a team built around him by Brad Stevens that can accommodate his down nights and still win dominantly.

Jayson Tatum complementary enough to be a winner in a way Joel Embiid can never be

Embiid is essentially Carmelo Anthony at the center position the way the ball stops in his hands. Thus far in his career, Embiid has gotten one game further than Melo did with the New York Knicks, but Anthony did at least get to the Western Conference Finals with the Denver Nuggets.

So Embiid falls short of even the Melo standard.

Tatum has been able to change his game from a pure scorer to a triple-double threat, and that fact is not respected enough. If Embiid made similar changes, perhaps he can soar to relevant heights with the Sixers.

Taking these kinds of shots doesn't move the needle. Might as well shake it up like Tatum did.