Tiki Barber emasculates Joel Embiid: ‘Stop being a b*tch’

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has returned from, and even played through, a long list of injuries in his career, but he’s getting no sympathy from Tiki Barber.

Embiid underwent an emergency appendectomy in April, and impressively, he returned to the court to help Philly knock off the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. Monday night against the Knicks, however, Embiid took a shot from Mikal Bridges in his midsection, and later questioned whether it was a dirty play, adding that he’ll have to do a better job of protecting his stomach. To that, Barber basically said to suck it up.

“If it’s gonna hurt, to physically be hurt, and someone might run into you, accidentally or otherwise, don’t play,” Barber ranted this week during his WFAN midday show with co-host Evan Roberts. “Remember when I had a broken arm in 2000? I had to tape my other arm because they were literally stepping on it, knowing I had a broken arm. I didn’t complain about it. It’s part of the risk of playing hurt. So, stop being a b*tch.”

Barber doesn’t seem to believe Embiid is faking injuries or even exaggerating them. He just doesn’t think Embiid is doing what all elite athletes have to do by powering through injuries without leaning on them as excuses.

“Because you’ve been an elite athlete for a long time,” Barber continued. “You play hurt. You have to. Especially when it means something to you.”

Embiid has often been accused of being soft during his career, especially by Philadelphia fans and media who grew frustrated by his frequent unavailability. But Embiid once scored 50 points in the playoffs while suffering from Bell’s palsy. He scored 34 points just last month with appendicitis and later returned from an emergency appendectomy to help eliminate the Boston Celtics from the playoffs.

Is Embiid a hero for returning to the 76ers during the playoffs? Probably not. The b*tch label, however, seems equally extreme. But for the sake of the Knicks-76ers rivalry and the New York-Philadelphia media rivalry, Barber’s rant was a welcome addition. Although Embiid is unlikely to find many defenders in Philadelphia right now, especially after being ruled out for Game 2 against the Knicks.