Joel Embiid Sure Talks a Lot for a Guy Whose Team Is Still Losing
By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com
Joel Embiid is one of the best young players in the NBA, and also witty and wildly entertaining to listen to when he talks after games. He’s your classic love-to-have-him-if-he’s-on-your-team big-time star with a mouth to match.
But the 76ers big man also tends to continue flapping his yap even when his team is losing. So in the wake of the Sixers finally getting a win over the Celtics on Monday night, his latest attempt at trash talk isn’t really the best look.
It started during the game, when Embiid and Terry Rozier got in a bit of an altercation – yes, the 6-foot-2 point guard got in the face of the 7-footer. Embiid also jawed with Marcus Morris, who is similarly used to giving his opponents a tongue-lashing, over the course of the game.
As you may expect, the talking spilled over to the postgame press conferences. While it’s a bit amusing to hear Embiid needle Rozier over the point guard’s relative lack of height, it’s a little odd for him to have this much swagger after his team barely avoided a sweep.
“I was trying to get the ball and he kept the ball away from me,” said Embiid when asked about the incident. “[Rozier] tried to punch me twice, but too bad he’s so short he couldn’t get to my face.”
Rozier didn’t exactly return the volleys, but he spoke to his fearlessness as a player that’s mostly shined through in the series.
“I wake up every morning and I’m worried about nobody, no man on this Earth,” said Rozier. “We’re out there having fun. It’s part of a basketball game. That’s all it is.”
The series could use more of the on-court theatrics and post-game gum-flapping. Because there’s a chance it goes only one more game before the C’s move on to bigger and better things. And Embiid will have plenty of time over the summer to practice his trash talk in a mirror.
Best trash talk of the night, by the way, involved no talking at all. Take it away, Marcus Morris:
"3-0" 😬😬😬. #NBAPlayoffs | #CUsRise pic.twitter.com/5dw5dpBHud
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 7, 2018
Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at [email protected].
