Joel Embiid is a very likeable guy so it's no surprise he's making friends all around the NBA. First, Hassan Whiteside in Miami. Now, Andre Drumond in Detroit.
And the season is barely a couple of weeks old.
After Embiid had his way with the Detroit Pistons last night, scoring 30 and pulling nine boards, in the Philadelphia 76ers' first win of the season -- Embiid put up an impressive plus-21 on the night -- he told the Inquirer's Keith Pompey that the Pistons' big man doesn't play any D.
Oh, Jojo, always talking trash.
“Defensively, he doesn’t play any defense,” Embiid said of Drummond. “When we started the game, he was being aggressive and he was talking, too. … So what I was like [in my mind] ‘You want to do that? I’m going to kick your [butt] then. So that’s what I did.”
“In my mind, I was like, ‘You want to switch up, because you are playing against me,’ ” he said. ” ‘You want to be all physical and talk [trash].’ So I was like, ‘you are going to get our [butt beat].’ I love that.”
I, lowly sports blogger and Sixers fan, also love that.
There's something about Embiid that is unlike other players. He can trash talk you, make you look silly, and you still kinda want to be pals with him.
But Drummond, who finished the night with a respectable 14 points and 14 boards, isn't exactly rolling over and playing dead. He took it to one of Joel's favorite places: Twitter.
Yes, the Sixers and the Pistons meet again on Dec. 2nd. The popcorn will be ready.