The last 36 hours or so has not been kind to Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid. The controversial Sixers superstar had received a lot of criticism from the Philadelphia faithful lately as he was booed for what was believed to be a lack of effort and he then decided to fire back with some shushing and some unflattering comments toward the crowd.
He then decided to give all of Philadelphia a heart attack and when he appeared to embrace a villain role and former Sixers forward Jimmy Butler reached out with an invite to Miami. Embiid then tweeted out that he was trolling the fans and that it was all love.
After scoring 26 points and pulling down nine rebounds in a 110-103 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, he was back to being who he is. He was having fun with the fans.
“They’ve been going at me, I went back at them,” said a smiling Embiid. “We’re all human beings, if I can take it, then everybody else can take it too. We move on, we learn from it, we move on. I’ve got to do a better job, they’ve got to do a better job. I understand where they come from, but then again, if you dish it, you’ve got to be able to take it back.”
Embiid was definitely in his element on Tuesday. He was waving his arm to pump up the crowd in the opening minutes after an And-1 and he was dancing while the song “Wicked” by Future was playing on the loudspeakers at the Wells Fargo Center. This was Embiid’s night.
“It’s all love,” he continued. “I love my city. I’ve been here for a long time now, we have a special relationship, and I’m happy to be here. I can’t wait for the future, especially this year. I think we can accomplish something great.”
Embiid was booed even a bit on Tuesday when he was introduced in the starting lineup and he said he heard some of it. This is exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be that trash talker again and back to being the Embiid of old.
“A little bit,” he said of the boos he heard. “But that’s cool. Tonight, I could’ve shushed them again, but it was all about having fun again. Just getting back to my myself, like I said last game, I’m back to doing whatever I want and say. That’s how I used to be and I was dominating that way. This year, I made a decision to change and I guess it hasn’t worked out so it comes with the good and bad. If it helps us win, then I’m going to be that guy.”
BROTHERLY LOVE #MyCity pic.twitter.com/dSCQqw0Yed
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) February 12, 2020
Embiid does understand that the fans of this team and in this city have his back. He just likes to have fun with them all the time.
“Of yeah, for sure,” he said. “I do understand it, like I keep saying, if you’re going to boo and somebody is going to shush you, then you’ve got to be OK with it. It’s all love. I understand where they’re coming from, but I do know that they got my back. Through the injuries and what we’ve been through. I’m still here, this is still my city, this is still our city, sp we’re going to keep pushing and win that championship.”
Embiid will now head to Chicago and play in the All-Star game on Sunday and then come back on January 20 for their next game against the Brooklyn Nets. [lawrence-related id=25600,25593,25573]