Miami Heat big man Hassan Whiteside may have just recently taken the upper hand in his perpetual duel against Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid.

Facing off in the NBA Africa Game in Johannesburg on Saturday, Whiteside successfully drained a three in the face of Embiid who halfheartedly contested the attempt from deep. This, however, did not deter Whiteside one bit from merrily celebrating the rare trey bomb.

https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/1025781942644629504

Whiteside and Embiid have had quite a history. The beef between these two big men have gone on for what feels like years.

There were always fireworks whenever the Heat and the 76ers met up, as neither Whiteside nor Embiid were willing to back down. Things did get a bit physical at times, but the relentless trash talking — both on and off the court — was an ever-present occurrence.

At one point, Embiid even called out Whiteside as a “dirty” player and labelled him as “soft.” The latter was understandably unhappy about the remarks, and had some choice words himself.

Comparing the numbers of these two cornerstone players though, will provide a different perspective. While both players are their respective team's highest-paid stars (both are looking at $25 million paydays this season), there remains one significant difference between them.

The defensive numbers put up by these two rim protectors were pretty much identical last season. Whiteside averaged 11.4 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 0.7 steals, against Embiid's 11.0 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 0.6 steals.

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However, Embiid stands out in the scoring category with an average nightly output of 22.9 points as the team's number one option on offense. Whiteside's 14.0 ppg is good for only third on his team, behind Dion Waiters and Goran Dragic.

Most notably, Embiid's 76ers also outclassed Whiteside's Heat in last season's first round matchup in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Regardless, these two stars have long careers ahead of them, and they will be facing each other for years to come. We could actually be witnessing the beginning of one of the more stirring personal rivalries in the NBA today.