Joel Embiid responds to Shaquille O'Neal's stinging 'not working hard' criticism in style

Joel Embiid may court controversy occasionally, but NBA star surely kws how to take criticism. One of legends of game, Shaquille O'Neal recently roasted Embiid for 't working hard eugh'. Philadelphia 76ers center responded in most humble manner and recorded a season-high 38 points to sink Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

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Shaquille O'Neal wants Joel Embiid to be a better player

After 76ers came out with a narrow 97-92 win over Denver Nuggets, NBA greats Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley drew some criticism over Joel Embiid. According to TNT duo, Embiid is t apparently working hard eugh. O'Neal and Barkley believed that 25-year-old was t living up to his potential and was playing as if he was satisfied with being 'just' good.

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Just 24 hours later, Joel Embiid responded with a dominating performance against Celtics at TD Garden. Cameroonian recorded 38 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists on night. During a post-game interview, Embiid revealed that he called Shaquille O'Neal, but instead of responding angrily to comments made, he said call was made just to tell O'Neal that he understood what basketball great expected from him.

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'I just wanted to talk to him. He was just telling me, Be aggressive. You’re guy. So just go out re and dominate.’ - Joel Embiid

Philadelphia 76ers defying expectations this season 

It seems Joel Embiid has taken criticism quite seriously and we might just see much more from 76ers star going forward. criticism was followed with back-to-back starring performances from Embiid as he also recorded 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists for 76ers in ir win over New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. Philadelphia 76ers are unbeaten in ir last 5 games and will be preparing to face Brooklyn Nets next at Barclays Center on Sunday night.

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