WATCH: Shaq says Joel Embiid is going to ‘dominate’ this season and will be the best big man in the league

Shaquille O’Neal went on The Stephen A. Smith Show on Monday and made a bold prediction about Joel Embiid, betting big on a resurgence season now that the Sixers have added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown.

Shaq said the arrival of that kind of talent means it’s time for Embiid to step up, and then he took it several steps further with a full-throated guarantee about the big man’s upcoming season.

“He better take some Tylenol, take some shots. I’ll tell you what, I’ll call it right now,” Shaq told Smith. “He’s going to be healthy this year. Joel Embiid is going to dominate this year. You heard it here first. Joel Embiid will be touted as the best big man in the league. He’s passing up the Joker this year. He’s going to work this year.”

Well, okay then. That’s about as strong an endorsement as you can get. Shaq is saying Joel Embiid will be the best big man in basketball, better than Nikola Jokic, and that he’ll finally shake the injury bug that’s followed him around his entire career.

Shaq on Joel Embiid

Shaq says Joel Embiid will be the best big man in the NBA this season:

“Joel Embiid is going to dominate this year. You heard it here first. Joel Embiid will be the best big man in the league. He’s passing up the Joker this year.”

(Via @stephenasmith) https://t.co/UnhoYknTa2 pic.twitter.com/OVvfxOMAQF

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) July 27, 2026

Obviously, the Joel Embiid Health Prediction is the Tricky Part

Here’s where I have to pump the brakes a little on Shaq, even though the man forgot more about playing center than most of us will ever know. When the prediction involves Joel Embiid’s talent, sure, take it to the bank.

Nobody has ever seriously doubted what Embiid can do when he’s on the floor because he’s an MVP, one of the most unstoppable offensive centers in the league, and a legitimate two-way force when healthy.

That phrase, “when healthy,” will always be doing a lot of heavy lifting when talking about Joel Embiid. I don’t like it, obviously, but you can’t just ignore the fact that Embiid has missed 150 games over the last three seasons and has never once played 70-plus games in any season of his career.

Shaq, for all his greatness and his actual doctorate in education, is not a medical doctor. Predicting Embiid stays healthy is predicting against everything his career history tells us is pretty wild, but god damn, I want to believe.

But wait… here’s why the Joel Embiid optimism is now justified

Now, before anyone thinks I’m being a pessimist, there’s real reason to believe this season could be different, and it has nothing to do with Shaq’s guarantee.

Joel Embiid said it himself after last season ended that he was finally entering the offseason healthy, which he hasn’t been able to say in years.

Reports say he and LeBron have already talked about his health, and that Embiid is putting on muscle to keep his body in the right condition to hold up over a full season. That’s the kind of proactive, structural approach that suggests this offseason is being handled differently than the ones before it.

There’s the roster around Joel Embiid, which might be the biggest factor of all.

Adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown takes an enormous amount of pressure off Embiid. For years, the Sixers have needed Joel Embiid to carry a massive load every single night just to stay competitive, and that workload is a huge part of why his body kept breaking down.

Now? He doesn’t have to be everything.

LeBron can run the offense. Brown can create. Maxey can score in bunches. VJ Edgecombe adds athleticism and energy. Joel Embiid can pick his spots, manage his minutes, and preserve his body for the moments that actually matter, which is exactly what a 31-year-old center with an injury history needs.

The Sixers Are a Problem Regardless

Mix all of that together, an MVP center, the greatest player of all time, a Finals MVP wing, a rising All-Star guard, and a hungry young athlete, and the Sixers are a genuine problem for the entire league. The depth means Embiid doesn’t have to be a martyr anymore, and a rested, healthy Embiid on a loaded roster is a nightmare matchup for anyone.

So yeah, it’s nice to hear Shaq come out and hype up Embiid, and the “best big man in the league, passing up Jokic” stuff makes for a great soundbite but honestly, that’s already the expectation around here.

Sixers fans didn’t need Shaq to tell them that a healthy Embiid on this roster is going to be dominant. We’ve been assuming it since the moment LeBron signed.

We appreciate the confidence but we were already there. Now Embiid just has to go do it, and for the first time in a long time, the circumstances around him are actually set up for exactly that.

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