Joel Embiid adds fire to feud with Andre Drummond ahead of Pistons-76ers game
Add another troll feather to Joel Embiid’s cap.
Arguably the NBA’s most exciting young player and definitely its preeminent trash-talker, the Philadelphia 76ers center set Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond in his sights ahead of Saturday night’s matchup at the Wells Fargo Center.
“No disrespect,” Embiid told reporters before immediately disrespecting Drummond at Saturday’s shootaround. “But he can’t shoot. I’ve just got to worry about the defensive coverages that we have as a team.”
Embiid’s dig on Drummond has history going back to their Oct. 23 matchup that saw Embiid drop 30 points and nine rebounds in a 76ers win.
Embiid shared some choice words with the Philadelphia Inquirer after the victory.
“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 I was like ‘You want to do that? I’m going to kick your [butt] then.’ So that’s what I did.”
Drummond is far from the only player to feel Embiid’s wrath this young NBA season. He borrowed a favorite Shaquille O’Neal dig to label Heat center Hassan Whiteside “barbecue chicken” on Instagram after a November win over Miami that followed up a Twitter beef between the two from an October matchup.
Embiid also went after Lonzo Ball on Instagram after torching the Los Angeles Lakers for 46-15-7-7 on a night that saw Ball score two points on 1-of-9 shooting.
And then there’s this ultimately disrespectful block/stare/flop combination levied against Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell that got the crowd rolling in Philadelphia.
The STUFF.
The STARE.
The SHOVE.Joel Embiid, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/qkI6PbS3Bo
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) November 21, 2017
And these are just a few examples.
While some of Embiid’s antics come off as playful and good-natured, other times he’s straight-up clowning dudes. It seems just a matter of time before one of these grown men/basketball professionals gets pushed over the edge.
Drummond has been eyeing tonight’s matchup since their last meeting.
See you Dec 2nd
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) October 24, 2017
And he had some choice critique of Embiid’s game he shared with Fox Sports’ Johnny Kane.
In response to Embiid, Drummond told me, "I mean you can't really have a conversation with a man who can't play a back-to-back… I've been playing for six years and I've missed maybe 4-5 games. So when he can play a whole season without taking a rest, he can come talk to me."
— Johnny Kane (@JohnnyKaneFSD) December 2, 2017
This should be fun.
