I sat watching the Sixers Pistons game this past Tuesday night and I couldn’t help but laugh at what was going on. Resident joker and professional trash talker Joel Embiid was trolling Andre Drummond directly to his face. “He can’t guard me,” came out of his mouth almost every possession. To be honest, he wasn’t lying, he dropped 33 and it was mostly on Drummond, who seriously had almost no chance. When Joel laughed, I laughed. When Embiid flopped, and yes it was a full on flop, to give Drummond his 2nd T and thus an ejection, I couldn’t help but lose it in uncontrollable laughter. Trash talking is an art and Joel Embiid is Pablo Picasso.
In today’s NBA, trash talking happens on a nightly basis. However, most of the big names don’t participate in it as much. What makes it worse is that most of the big stars hang out with each other or train together, so a hatred between them is tough. I don’t want to see two guys jawing on the court and then friends afterwards. I need some hatred in sports. I need Larry Bird and Dr. J choking each other out. I need Michael Jordan’s hatred towards Isiah Thomas, which you know still exists 20 years later. I want the bad boy Pistons knocking the snot out of people. I want Ron Artest going into the…just kidding, we can stop short of that one. I’ll even take Rondo and Chris Paul exchanging blows. As fans, we need rivalries, it’s part of what makes sports so compelling and trash talk fuels them more than anything else.
Larry Bird was perhaps the best ever at talking trash. I know I’m probably too young to remember most of his epic trash talking battles, but I’ve seen and read plenty about him. Michael Jordan was much of the same. It’s a mentality. The greats talk trash not because they truly hate the person, although sometimes they may, they do it because it gives them a competitive edge. There can’t be anything as an athlete worse than going against a guy like Bird or MJ, who you know is better than you, only to have them yell at you every time down the court that you can’t guard them, or coach needs to get someone else in the game. It is demoralizing and makes it easy to comprehend why someone guarding them would lose their composure.
Drummond learned that lesson again on Tuesday night. He got completely taken out of his game. He shot 6/20 and committed 5 turnovers while letting Embiid score 33 and turn it over only once. The Sixers did lose the game, which obviously matters, but to be able to take the other teams starter mentally out of the game and then physically out of the game (although not warranted) is a massive advantage. Imagine the mental damage it must cause to get wrongfully ejected after getting trashed talked and dominated for an entire night, on your home court and after the last technical, the player who flopped stands up and yells “get him out of here, get him out of this game.” That has to be demoralizing, frustrating and embarrassing to any NBA player with any semblance of pride. Winning a singular NBA game isn’t enough to overcome that, especially when Philly is short their second star and main bench option. Win a playoff series or more against them. The Pistons are now 1-4 in their last 5 games against Philly, that’s a big enough sample size to know that the trash talked has been backed up more often than not.
It was just nice to sit down and watch a game and see players that genuinely have a disgust for each other. Embiid now has legitimate rivalries with Drummond, Whiteside, and Westbrook while he has more playful rivalries with guys like KAT, Bamba as well as a handful of others. One of my other favorite parts about Embiid is that he doesn’t hide from it. If he calls someone out on twitter or instagram, you bet your ass he’s coming at them the next time he plays them and usually vice versa. It unquestionably puts a target on his back. I get that vibe watching him play the Celtics, but if he is stirring up rivalries and making Tuesday night games in the middle of October more fun, than he is great for the league. The NBA needs more Joel Embiids, especially from their superstars.
By Peter Gumas
1204 Sports 