76ers: Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma Defends Joel Embiid’s Snub

On Thursday night, the NBA released the 2023 NBA All-Star starters. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who has established himself as a top-five player in the league over the last couple of seasons, is not among the ten starters in the All-Star game this season.

Washington Wizards’ standout forward Kyle Kuzma was among many to voice his complaints about the situation on Twitter Thursday night, as he believes Embiid should be among the starters coming out of the Eastern Conference.

“Not gonna lie. Joel Embiid not starting is nuts,” said Kuzma.

Ngl .@JoelEmbiid not starting is nuts
— kuz (@kylekuzma) January 27, 2023

Kuzma and Embiid might be division rivals in the NBA, but the forward clearly respects the big man’s game. Although Kuzma’s only seen Embiid’s impact on the Sixers this season up close in one of three matchups between the Sixers and the Wizards, it doesn’t take a hoops genius to understand just how dominant Embiid is when he’s on the floor.

Coming off of back-to-back seasons as the NBA’s MVP runner-up, Embiid is making a strong case to be in the Most Valuable Player conversation for the third-straight year.

This year, Embiid’s averaged a career-high of 33 points while shooting a career-best 53 percent from the field. His points-per-game average currently leads the league. In addition to scoring, Embiid is coming down with ten rebounds per game. He also remains one of the NBA’s best bigs defensively.

Embiid is well on his way to grabbing his sixth All-Star nod, but he won’t be on board with a team as a starter. Instead, the East will be represented by Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving, and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.