Deion Sanders challenges Embiid to actually play against Nikola Jokic

A day after Nikola Jokic shared that he has no idea who Deion Sanders is, the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes met with rival big man Joel Embiid and his Philadelphia 76ers on the eve of the team’s workouts in Fort Collins.

The 76ers are using the Colorado State Rams facilities for training camp, just as the Nuggets are out in San Deigo. The reason Philly is in the Centennial State? Minority owner and multi-billionaire David J. Adelman made that clear.

“These guys are training in Colorado for the week, Nick (Nurse) thought to bring them out here for a little altitude training and the road to a championship in the NBA goes through Denver,” he said in a video captured by Sanders’ video team. “They’ll get used to it because they’ll see us here in June.”

But the way the reigning NBA MVP has ducked Denver and Jokic in recent years makes it unlikely we would even see Embiid in the Mile High City unless Philly makes the NBA Finals and he’s healthy enough and even wants to play. Embiid famously skipped last year’s matchup with Joker in Denver. For the reason of ESPN’s narratives, it didn’t really impact his MVP case, stealing a third-straight award from Jokic, who in turn led the Nuggets to their first-ever title.

The last time the Philly big hasn’t played in Colorado since 2019, a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback by the Nuggets that saw Jokic hit a game-winner over Embiid, and the 76er responded by fouling out. It’s one of just two times Embiid, who was drafted in 2014, has played in Denver. Likely the last time Embiid was in Boulder, where he met Sanders on Tuesday was when the CU Buffs hit a half-court buzzer-beater to drop off the future NBA player’s ranked Jayhawks in a stunner.

“A lot of folks duck that smoke right now, they want to be a tallest man on paper,” Sanders said with Embiid sitting right in front of him. “Don’t sell me a game and tell me I’m going to get it then when I turn on the TV I don’t get it. I don’t like it. If Embiid is playing the Joker, I want to see Embiid vs. the Joker. I want to see it. He goes and gets it, right? I love the matchup but I want to see that, that’s why I stayed up.”

You can watch the full video of Sanders meeting with the 76ers entire team and both the owner, Embiid and Prime’s interactions in either YouTube video below.

The 76ers, unlike the Nuggets, begin their season with drama as former MVP James Harden is making a mess in a trade request to get away from Embiid and team. The chances Philly makes it out of the east seem slim, meaning Denver’s lone matchup in altitude with Philly will come in the regular season again, a game the NBA has made Embiid give no excuses for missing this time around.

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