THIS. LEAGUE.
Joel Embiid and Hassan Whiteside played against each other on Friday. Whiteside drew a third foul on Embiid. At that point, Embiid had to call up the Heat bench in a “come get your mans” fashion. Whiteside laughed about it during the game but there was more to it apparently, and it all played out on Twitter.
The media won’t show that ♂️
— Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
This would have just been any other interaction between an NBA player and a Twitter user, but then Joel Embiid got in on it with a quote tweet and explained what was going on during the game. It wasn’t as playful as initially thought. He ended the tweet with #Softy, which is an incredible burn, especially after all the talk of cupcakes thanks to the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook beef from last season.
Dude they had to take your ass out or you would’ve fouled out in 5 min... And we’re talking about Preseason, not regular season..... #Softy https://t.co/IAIBDDypFK
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
And keep caring about stats and not your team success..... your +/- was ass @youngwhiteside #Softy
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
Then Embiid goes in and brings up advanced stats to make fun of Whiteside. Sure, he didn’t actually bring up Whiteside’s plus-minus (it was -9) but “your +/- was ass” is an NBA Twitter burn that will live on forever. That’s gonna go up in the rafters alongside Meet me in Temecula.
Hassan Whiteside wasn’t just going to let Embiid have the last word. He came back at Embiid with a knock on how many games the Sixers’ big man has played. It’s admittedly low hanging fruit, especially considering how Embiid still signed a 5-year, $146.5 extension in spite of his injuries. But it kept the Twitter beef going.
@JoelEmbiid 31 games in 3yrs Hopefully I get to see you regular season ♂️ ♂️ #SolarEclipse #EmbiidEclipse https://t.co/iaFfK3h3V6
— Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
Embiid didn’t reply directly to it, but he did retweet an old post.
Hassan Whiteside #NBAVote https://t.co/4dBXNZ2hUU
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) January 13, 2017
Embiid, being the Twitter mastermind that he is, could be both be making fun of Whiteside in this AND also be pointing out that Twitter is just a place to make jokes, so maybe we shouldn’t be taking everything seriously.
Then Joel Embiid goes and posts a photo on Instagram. It looks pretty innocuous until the last line. “My location is EXTREMELY ASS.” His location is Whiteside. Incredible.
Along the way, Embiid also got a body blow in on Kevin Durant with this joke.
My bad y’all , I thought I was using my burner account #TheProcess
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
This is the best beef and a good reminder that NBA Twitter is undefeated.