"He might get injured flying" - Stephen A. Smith furiously rips Shaq and Charles Barkley's comments on Joel Embiid citing injury concerns 

Ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers' home opener on Wednesday night, reports indicate that Joel Embiid and Paul George will be watching from the sidelines. After competing in the Olympics, Embiid will be out due to what the team's NBA.com injury report describes as "Left Knee; Injury Management." Additionally, he reportedly won't be playing in back-to-back games.

On Tuesday, during the season premiere of "Inside the NBA," Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley cracked jokes about Embiid declaring that he wouldn't be playing in back-to-back games. The following morning, on "First Take," Stephen A. Smith fired back at their remarks by highlighting Embiid's long list of injuries throughout his career.

"I'm disappointed in Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley. I can't believe what came out of their mouth. Joel Embiid has missed 329 games in his career. Let me go down the list. He only played 39 games last year. Last season alone, 34 games missed because of his knee, four games missed because of his ankle.

"Two games missed because of illness in his career. ... He might get hurt by flying. ... I understand If it was anybody else, I get where they're coming from. But for Joel Embiid, who's a monster, who shows up and will bust your ass, I don't understand how they can have a problem considering all the injuries he sustained."

In addition to Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley's comments coming on the heels of news that Joel Embiid wouldn't be playing back-to-backs, it was also reported that the former MVP could be out for several games, not just opening night.

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Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal weren't the only Hall of Famers to call out Joel Embiid for planning to sit out back-to-backs

While Stephen A. Smith believes that Joel Embiid's injury history gives him a good reason to sit out back-to-backs, another Hall of Famer agrees with Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley.

During this week's episode of "Ticket & The Truth," Kevin Garnett called out Embiid while speaking with Paul Pierce. The discussion came after Embiid indicated that back-to-back games may be off the table for the remainder of his career.

"It's f****ng amazing that he can get this off. Back-to-backs are part of the f****ng season. 82 games, man. That's what the f****ng job calls for. Man, I don't want to hear this s**t I don't want to hear none of this s**t.

"N****s can sit out of back-to-backs? Hey, listen, we done with that comparison of the eras s**t. We gonna respect this era and what it does, and that's it. But don't compare nobody, because you can't."

Throughout his career, Garnett played a full 82-game season four times and played in 80+ games for another four seasons, leading the league in games started in three separate seasons.

With injury troubles already plaguing the Philadelphia 76ers to start the season, only time will tell what direction things go.