PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Joel Embiid insists that the meme he tweeted moments after the Sixers traded Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden was random and not premeditated.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what the tweet was about,” Embiid said the following night, laughing and smiling. “I just tweeted a random person. … I just saw the picture on the internet. I thought he was well-dressed. He had a nice suit on. Good-looking. He had some swag, so I just thought it was a good picture.”
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Anyone who follows Embiid on Twitter knows he gives himself many nicknames, the current one being Joel “Troel” — troll — Embiid.
“That middle name is there for a reason,” he said on ESPN’s SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just going with a vibe and the vibe told me that that’s a nice man with a nice suit on and you look great and I should probably post it.”
Whatever you say, Troel.
Adding to the lunacy, Embiid apparently met that well-dressed random person — also known as Big Fendi — at the NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland on Sunday. A meme-ception?
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After four years of mostly successful regular seasons paired with playoff disappointment, Simmons requested a trade from the Sixers in the offseason, despite four years left on his contract. During Simmons’ introductory press conference with the Nets, he said the trade dealt with a personal issue that predated the 2020-21 season. Simmons talked about not being in a good place mentally and needing to get back to a place that was himself.
Simmons hasn’t played this season but indicated he does plan on suiting up for Brooklyn at some point, hoping to play when they visit the Sixers on March 10. Maybe we should go with Bleeding Green Nation’s Brandon Lee Gowten’s suggestion and let Big Fendi ring the ceremonial pregame bell that night at Wells Fargo Center.
