Chris Canty accuses Joel Embiid of using his son as a shield after Knicks sweep

Joel Embiid has already been accused of being soft on the basketball court, now he’s being accused of being soft in his press conferences as well.

After the Philadelphia 76ers watched their season come to an end with an embarrassing 144-114 loss at home to complete being swept out of the playoffs by the New York Knicks, Embiid owed the fans and media answers to some tough questions as the face of Philly’s NBA franchise. But it might be hard for reporters to ask Embiid those tough questions when he has his five-year-old son sitting on his lap during the press conference.

Monday morning on ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike, Chris Canty went off on Embiid for using his son as a sort of shield from the media.

OWN THE MOMENT.

After the game, Joel Embiid had his postgame presser… and @ChrisCanty99 did NOT like that Embiid used his son as a shield against criticism. https://t.co/Pe2UXSjUXy pic.twitter.com/F5TPbkMHEi

— UNSPORTSMANLIKE (@UnSportsESPN) May 11, 2026

“He’s using his son as a human shield for criticism. It’s hard for the reporters to ask the hard-hitting questions when you have that ball of cuteness sitting in Joel Embiid’s lap,” Canty told his co-hosts Evan Cohen and Michelle Smallmon. “I can’t really get into it with Joel Embiid with his son right there.

“I hate that! From a leadership standpoint, own the moment, which is your team was absolutely embarrassing, face the firing squad that is the Philadelphia media and let them ask all of the tough questions that they need to ask and take all of those slings and arrows and be the face of the failure that the Sixers experienced this year.”

Canty isn’t the first person to take issue with the trend of professional athletes bringing their kids to postgame interviews. Maggie Gray notably argued that athletes bringing kids to press conferences inhibits reporters from being able to do their job.

And while it’s one thing for an athlete to bring their kids to the podium after a win where the conversation might be light and celebratory, doing it after a loss can inherently temper any potential criticism.

Canty noted he was tired of hearing Embiid give stock answers about the entire organization needing to be better from top to bottom. After being blown out in three of their four playoff losses to the Knicks this season, Canty wanted Embiid to take some accountability. And facing the media with his five-year-old son on his lap wasn’t it.