Joel Embiid and many others (like Rob Gronkowski) love to insert the number “69” anywhere they can. And once someone does, it inevitably gets a bunch of people to respond “nice.” If you don’t know why that’s the case, I’ll suggest going to Google, turn on SafeSearch and look up why.
Anyway, not everyone is up on the current vernacular of what young people are saying these days. And that definitely seems to be the case with Golden State Warriors announcers Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett.
This all started Wednesday when Embiid was asked about his conditioning after dropping 46 on the LA Lakers. Embiid responded that he was at 69%.
Joel Embiid told our @MollySullivanTV that he's only playing at about 69% of what he's capable. pic.twitter.com/LBw84Qe48W
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) November 16, 2017
The team apparently kept up the gag because when the Warriors visited Philadelphia, a Sixers staffer supposedly told Barnett that Embiid remains at 69%, not exactly getting the joke and/or the irony that it’s one of Embiid’s most notable goofs.
Fitzgerald and Barnett questioned as to how or why the Sixers were so specific in their result but they didn’t pick up on the basis of the joke either.
In fairness to Fitzgerald and Barnett, if Joel Embiid says he’s at 69% conditioning, he’s at 69%. If that’s what he said, the staffer didn’t lie and in all actuality, it’s not like the broadcasters were wrong in what they were reporting. And who knows, with Embiid getting back from injury and is just now starting to play meaningful minutes, 69% maybe at the level he is right now. That may be nice for now but Sixers fans are going to be even more excited when Embiid gets to 100%.
