PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When the Philadelphia 76ers were making postseason runs during Allen Iverson's prime, they ran a pregame introduction video that included a famous line recited by Denzel Washington portraying high school football coach Herman Boone in the motion picture "Remember The Titans."
"We will be perfect in every aspect of the game."
Twenty years later, one of the franchise's current stars and cornerstones is adopting that philosophy when it comes to his free throw shooting.
All-Star center-forward Joel Embiid made 16 of 20 attempts in the Sixers' 106-96 win at the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. When asked about it by Hall of Famer and former NBA great Reggie Miller on TNT, Embiid interrupted Miller and said, "Too many misses."
When Miller brought up that he only missed four, Embiid responded, "That's too many."
"I should be a 90% free throw shooter, so every miss that I have, I get pissed off. That's why they're called free throws. I love to get to the line and I've got to take them," he added. "I've got to get back in the gym and keep working on those."
He elaborated on his desire for near-perfection after the game Tuesday night when talking to the media through Zoom. He explained that getting to the line takes craftiness.
Embiid is shooting 84.6% from the line (332 for 391) this season through 33 games. According to ESPN's rankings, which say a player must be on pace to make 125 during the regular season, Embiid ranks No. 41 heading into Thursday night's NBA action.
Yet, if you look at the average attempts per game of ESPN's top 50, Embiid is easily averaging the most attempts at the line per game with 11.8.
