Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid made headlines prior to the start of the 2024-25 NBA season when he declared that he wouldn't be playing in both legs of the team's back-to-back games this season as a means of preserving his health.

Those comments didn't sit well with Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal, who weighed in on Embiid's scheduled absences during the season's first episode of TNT's Inside the NBA.

"I was so disappointed in Joel Embiid saying he wasn't going to play back-to-back games," Barkley said. "You're one of the three, four or five best players in the world. You cannot say as a leader of that team, 'I'm not going to play certain games.' That's not the way to start the season.

"As the best player on that team, and a leader, I would never go into a season saying I'm not going to play back-to-back games. I thought that was a bad message."

Shaq agreed with the sentiment from Barkley.

"Not only that, it doesn't make sense," O'Neal said. "The league isn't that physical for him to say that. He's a pick-and-popper, he's not a big guy. ... You don't get doubled, you don't get tripled, you don't get flagrant fouled. There's no reason to say 'I'm not playing back-to-back.

Embiid is set to start the season on the shelf, unavailable for the Sixers' season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday while nursing a left knee injury. He's set to miss the first week of the season due to the injury, meaning he'll also be sidelined for Friday's showdown against the Toronto Raptors.

The 76ers' first back-to-back of the season will be on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13. They take on the New York Knicks at home during an NBA Cup matchup on the 12th before hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers the next day.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charles Barkley, Shaq Blast Joel Embiid for Avoiding Back-to-Back Games This Season.

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