In 2019 Joel Embiid walked off the court crying forcefully after being beaten on a last-second shot by the Toronto Raptors in game seven of the second round of the playoffs.
In the following season this was his performance in his first time back at that arena:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201911250TOR.html32 minutes, 0 for 11 shooting, 0 for 4 from three, 0 for 3 from the free throw line, five fouls, and zero points. To his credit he did grab 13 rebounds.
It's very difficult to make much meaning of a single instance of anything in the world, but when placed in a specific and highly meaningful context and given the overwhelming odds of its occurrence, such an ascription of meaning is indeed possible.
What are the odds that a player who averages 25+ points a game and who leaves the court crying after a game seven buzzer-beater, in his first visit back to that arena early the following season, would simply score
zero points?
Now ask yourself this: what are the odds of that occurrence if indeed that player has the mettle of a champion? What are the odds that would occur for Kobe Bryant? Michael Jordan? Shaquille O'Neal? Even the likes of the much lesser Paul Pierce or a player of that ilk?
The missing ingredient for Embiid of course is the mettle of a champion.
That event was certainly noteworthy when it happened, but it has even more significance in hindsight. It's now become consistent with a longstanding body of behavior on his part that underscores the problem in even sharper relief.
