PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Joel Embiid has been sensational in the three games he’s played this season, and it sounds like he’s having fun along the way.
There was a scary moment in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game, though, when Embiid — who missed Sunday’s loss in Cleveland with back tightness — went to the locker room with an apparent leg injury.
He walked off on his own power, and eventually returned to help the Sixers win. Postgame, in his one-on-one with NBC Sports Philadelphia, he jokingly channeled an iconic athlete to explain what happened.
“I hurt my back,” Embiid said, referencing Mike Tyson’s post-fight interview with Showtime in 2003. “My back is broken — sorry, I was trying to make a Mike Tyson joke, but no, I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”
In 2003, Tyson told Jim Gray after a fight that he broke his back. Gray asked for specifics and Tyson responded “spinal.”
Embiid isn’t the first professional athlete to reference the well-known quote. Portland’s C.J. McCollum did so in the Disney bubble over the summer.
Jokes and broken backs aside, Doc Rivers was certainly pleased with his All-Star center’s performance against the Raptors.
“Joel Embiid is a dominant basketball player, and the other teams are gonna send people,” Rivers said. “He was terrific.”
Embiid scored 14 of his 29 points from the foul line, grabbing 16 boards and dishing out four assists. He also handled the Raptors’ defensive traps pretty well.
“I love and hate playing against the Raptors,” he said, “especially the way they play me, doubling me, even if I don’t have the ball.”
According to ESPN, Embiid is the first Sixer since Charles Barkley in 1986 to have at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in his first three games of the season.