SUNDAY, MAY 15 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D7
Professional BasketballLater in life, Haywood found
perspective, strengthened his
fame and gained the respect he
felt he deserved. But he has lived
through hell. So if this feels like a
“demonic time” to him, it’s a
sobering thought that shouldn’t
be dismissed.
“For sports, the most important
thing causing all this is the
empowerment at a time when
progress and equality are meeting
resistance,” Haywood said.
“Whenever athletes have raised
their voices and fought systems,
there’s always a pushback. What’s
different about now is the
craziness of the discourse. You
can’t be watching and listening to
all this evil and hate and denial —
that’s a big thing — and then go to
the game or concert and not
expect some of that to be in there
and manifest itself during the
spectating experience.
“Think about it. We had people
trying to overthrow the American
government. I never even thought
we would be living in that kind of
society. And then they act like it
didn’t even happen. What the hell
is wrong with y’all? You’re going to
believe your lying eyes?”
When he learned about the
Paul family incident, Haywood
was most bothered that it was a
young fan whom Paul identified
as an instigator. “They got this
stuff going all backwards, man, if
that’s what our example is
teaching young people how to
act,” Haywood said.
Security for the Mavericks and
American Airlines Center later
released a statement saying “twothe locker room in Philadelphia,
Kyrie Irving likening the
treatment of players to a “human
zoo” — could be attributed to the
effect of limited social
interactions during the first
phase of the pandemic. However,
it seemed like an insufficient
excuse then. And now it’s facile to
suggest we’re all just adjusting
emotionally, still.
It’s a combination of the
emergence from silos, the reaction
to an athlete empowerment era in
which more players are vocal and
demanding and a societal culture
war hemorrhaging civility. Put all
of those issues in a sports venue,
and the notion of a hostile
environment takes on new
meaning.
“Man, we’re living in a demonic
time,” Haywood said.
Haywood is 73. He was born
into indentured servitude in
Mississippi, the son and brother of
sharecroppers. He went from the
cotton fields to the basketball
court. When he was trying to play
in the NBA, his mother was still
making $2 a day picking cotton.
Haywood and Seattle SuperSonics
owner Sam Schulman fought the
case to the Supreme Court, won a
temporary injunction in 1971 and
later settled the dispute out of
court, paving the way for
precocious talent to enter the NBA
sooner. But he suffered because of
that fight, as well as the intense
racism of his childhood,
succumbing to drug addiction
and feeling like an outcast.
BREWER FROM D1
JERRY BREWER
Target of NBA fan abuse
o≠ers a sobering warning
incredibly difficult to envision
the 76ers holding up through a
deep postseason run.
The clock is ticking on
Embiid’s prime, and he needs a
more reliable sidekick, a more
talented supporting cast and a
more stable culture. Fixing all
that ails Philadelphia will be a
lot more difficult than
orchestrating a move to greener
pastures.
“I’m not the GM,” Embiid said
when asked what improvements
are needed. “I’m not the
president. I don’t make those
decisions. These guys are going
to do what it takes to win a
championship. If it means
trading people or signing new
people or trading me, that’s what
they’re going to do if they believe
that’s going to give them a shot
to win a championship.”
It might have been a
meaningless aside buried within
an extended news conference,
but Embiid stumbled on the
right answer. As with Barkley
before him, a trade represents
Embiid’s surest path to greater
glory. Will pride and loyalty
stand in the way?dramatically changed his
personal story for the better.
Thirty years later, the parallels
to Embiid’s situation are
obvious. Harden told reporters
Thursday that he plans to
remain in Philadelphia next
season, and the two stars’
salaries will limit the team’s cap
flexibility and roster depth. The
76ers have a creative lead
executive in Daryl Morey and a
keeper in young guard Tyrese
Maxey but little else in the way
of trade assets or prospects.
Going forward, they look more
like the Utah Jazz — a team that
has hit a firm wall after years of
playoff appearances — than
perennial contenders such as the
Bucks and Celtics.
Embiid is synonymous with
the 76ers, and he signed an
extension last summer that runs
through the 2026-27 season. He’s
a certified Philadelphia icon, but
it’s hard to see how he takes the
next steps in his career without a
drastic move. Another coaching
change won’t be enough. Hoping
for better health doesn’t count as
a plan. Even if Embiid wins his
long-awaited MVP in 2023, it’ssupposed to elevate him
alongside the all-time greats.
Remember, O’Neal reached the
Finals at 23 and won his first
title at 28. The NBA revolved
around O’Neal in a way that it
has never revolved around
Embiid despite his talents and
charisma.
By contrast, Barkley played in
a league that belonged to Larry
Bird, Magic Johnson and
Michael Jordan, and he has
explained many times how badly
he wanted to be viewed as the
sport’s best player. Embiid,
similarly, has played in an NBA
that has belonged to LeBron
James, Stephen Curry, Kevin
Durant and Antetokounmpo,
and he has expressed frustration
that he hasn’t won MVP yet.
When Barkley was 28 in 1992,
his 76ers missed the playoffs and
he was traded to the Phoenix
Suns. This was a crossroads
moment for an antsy Barkley,
and the change of scenery did
him wonders. He was named
MVP and led the Suns to the
1993 Finals. Barkley never
achieved his championship
validation, but that tradecomplicate a delicate situation.
This wasn’t a completely lost
season for Embiid, who won his
first scoring title and finished as
MVP runner-up for the second
straight year. Even so, his career
remains stuck in neutral.
Embiid, who turned 28 in
March, still hasn’t reached the
Eastern Conference finals in the
eight years since he was drafted,
and his peers are lapping him.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis
Antetokounmpo, a top Embiid
rival, has two MVPs, a title and a
Finals MVP. Boston Celtics
forward Jayson Tatum is four
years younger than Embiid and
has reached the conference
finals twice. Heat forward
Jimmy Butler, a former Embiid
teammate, has reached the
Finals and ended this 76ers
season since his 2019 departure
from Philadelphia.
“I still don’t know how we let
[Butler] go,” Embiid said. “I wish
I could have gone to battle with
him still.”
The five-time all-star center
remains stuck in the past
because he’s still waiting for his
next chapter, the one that wasattempt a late-game dunk as a
turning point in the season-
ending loss to Atlanta. Simmons
then staged a months-long
holdout and was finally traded to
the Brooklyn Nets in February.
This time, Embiid said that he
expected more from Harden,
Simmons’s replacement. Only a
few months after strongly
praising Harden’s impact
following the midseason trade,
Embiid expressed something
akin to buyer’s remorse.
“Since we got him, everybody
expected the Houston James
Harden,” Embiid said. “That’s
not who he is anymore. He’s
more of a playmaker. I thought
at times he could have been, as
all of us could have been, more
aggressive.”
Embiid was right on the
merits — Harden went scoreless
in the second half of Game 6 and
averaged just 18.6 points per
game in the playoffs, his lowest
mark in a decade — but wrong in
his timing and manner. The
76ers must weigh the possibility
of a massive contract extension
for Harden this summer, and
Embiid’s comments onlyShaquille O’Neal
has long been the
go-to comparison
for Joel Embiid:
The two 7-footers
punish
overmatched
opponents, put up 30-point,
1 0-rebound performances with
ease and possess charming,
supersized personalities.
But a more apt reference point
for Embiid is O’Neal’s TNT
commentating partner, Charles
Barkley. Like Barkley, Embiid
has faced questions about his
conditioning and ability to fulfill
his vast potential. Like Barkley,
Embiid has a tendency to be too
honest for his own good in
interviews. And like a young
Barkley, Embiid has endured
early postseason exits that have
raised serious doubts about
whether he can get the
Philadelphia 76ers over the
proverbial hump.
The Miami Heat eliminated
Embiid’s 76ers with a 99-90
Game 6 victory Thursday,
prompting some Philadelphia
fans to boo the home team and
head for the exits before the final
buzzer. It was too similar to last
year’s disappointing elimination
loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Technically, this qualified as a
slight regression. The 76ers
didn’t make it to Game 7 before
falling in the second round for
the fourth time in the past five
seasons.
“We just weren’t good
enough,” Embiid said. “The goal
was to win a championship, and
it didn’t happen.”
Of course, there were major
mitigating factors: Embiid tore a
thumb ligament, suffered a
concussion and fractured his
orbital bone during the playoffs,
injuries that limited his energy
and effectiveness as the Miami
series unfolded. Poorly timed
health issues are nothing new
for Embiid and the 76ers, who
displayed far less resolve than
the Heat. Tobias Harris
suggested that Philadelphia
needed to improve its “mental
toughness,” while James Harden
copped to a teamwide “lack of
effort” as Miami pulled away.
Philadelphia’s latest flameout
was maddening precisely
because it was so familiar. While
the names and faces have
changed, the 76ers suffered from
the same shortcomings as years
past: They didn’t have enough
offensive threats around Embiid,
their bench was underwhelming,
and they cracked when the going
got tough.
Meanwhile, Embiid continued
his regrettable habit of pointing
the finger at those around him.
In 2020, he was unhappy with
Coach Brett Brown’s defensive
tactics against the Boston
Celtics. Brown was fired within
days of their first-round exit.
Last year, Embiid highlighted
Ben Simmons’s refusal to
Like B arkley before him, Embiid might need to leave 76ers to find greater glory
On
the NBA
BEN
GOLLIVER
MATT SLOCUM/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joel Embiid’s 76ers fell in the second round for the fourth time in the past five postseasons, and the five-time all-star center has never reached the Eastern Conference finals.them, speaks for anything more
than just random stupidity.”
During his toughest times,
restraint helped Haywood
survive. His mother used to
always tell him: “It’s not bad
people. The devil has their heart at
this time.” When he was playing
while fighting the NBA in the
courts, he would walk into arenas
on the road, and the public-
address announcer would declare
the game was under protest
because an ineligible player was
on the floor, and it would incite
violence. But Haywood, who is
6 -foot-8, never retaliated and kept
seeking the best in people. Such
poise is a lot to ask of athletes used
to confrontation, but that’s the
responsibility.
“The good, it’s still out there,”
Haywood said. “The fools make a
lot of noise, but it’s still out there.”“You can’t react,” said
Haywood, who was the subject of
“The Spencer Haywood Rule”
book written by Marc Spears and
Gary Washburn and now hosts a
podcast of the same name
tackling mental health and other
weighty subjects.
“You just can’t do it, especially
now. It could get really nasty.
You’ve got to remember that
you’ve got 20,000 sitting there
being entertained, and two or
three in the stands can’t speak for
all of them. So, brush your
shoulders off and move on.
“This is one of the best times in
sports, with the opportunity and
the equality and the push for
more. And the basketball is just
beautiful. We’ve got to celebrate
that and not let insecurities make
you think that the tiny minority,
even if they’ve got the devil inunruly fans attempted to give
unwanted hugs and have
conversations” with Paul’s family.
The security team ejected them
and won’t allow them to return to
a game until 2023.
The NBA has been proactive in
trying to curb inappropriate
behavior, delivering harsh
punishments quickly. It also has
become stricter about handing
out fines to players for swearing
and making obscene gestures
toward the crowd.
It’s not just an NBA issue, but in
arenas with courtside seating and
other design features that try to
make large crowds seem intimate,
exchanges between the
entertainers and spectators are
unavoidable. The overwhelming
majority are pleasant or in good
fun. When they’re not, the onus is
on the players to stay disciplined.TONY GUTIERREZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chris Paul identified a young fan as an instigator in an incident involving the Phoenix star’s family.ASSOCIATED PRESSDiana Taurasi buried six three-
pointers and scored 24 points, and
the visiting Phoenix Mercury beat
the Seattle Storm, 69-64, on Satur-
day to sweep the home-and-home
series.
Phoenix (2-1) beat Seattle (1-3)
on Wednesday night at home.
Skylar Diggins-Smith added
14 points for Phoenix.
Jewell Loyd scored 26 points for
Seattle.
l SUN 77, SPARKS 60: Alyssa
Thomas had 23 points, 12 re-
bounds and five assists to lead
Connecticut to a rout of Los Ange-
les in Uncasville, Conn.
Jonquel Jones added 16 points
and 12 rebounds for the Sun (1-1) in
its home opener.
Nneka Ogwumike and Jordin
Canada each scored 12 points for
the Sparks (2-2).
l SKY 82, LYNX 78: Courtney
Vandersloot scored five of her
16 points in the final 38 seconds as
Chicago held off Minnesota in
Minneapolis.
Vandersloot hit a three-pointer
to give Chicago (2-1) an 80-76 lead
with 38 seconds left and added
two free throws 15 seconds later.
Reserve Nikolina Milic topped
the Lynx (0-4) with 18 points.WNBA ROUNDUPTake two:Taurasi helpsPhoenix earnSeattle sweepMERCURY 69,
STORM 64