When the Sixers sent Ben Simmons to the Nets in exchange for James Harden, the blockbuster package included Andre Drummond and Seth Curry both also making their way to Brooklyn. The inclusion of Drummond and Curry in the trade was somewhat overlooked with all the attention focused on Simmons and Harden, who incidentally, both succeeded in forcing their respective ways out of their former teams.
For his part, Drummond spent just half a season with the Sixers before he found himself on the move again. During his time in Philly, the 6-foot-10 big man served as the primary backup to Joel Embiid. It's almost easy to forget that these two had quite the history before they ended up on the same team.
In a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, Embiid spoke out about his previous beef with Drummond. In his mind, it was all in good fun:
“I think most of the time, I talk trash or in the past when I used to really go at it with anybody, whether it was (Hassan) Whiteside or Drum or whoever. To me, it’s never been serious to the point where, like, I don’t hate anybody,” Embiid said, via Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “I’m like, I’m doing this for fun and people get their feelings hurt, that is on them. That has nothing to do with me. Anything that I say and anything that I do I literally am not; I’m kidding.”
Drummond arrived in Philly last summer. He signed as a free agent on a one-year deal worth $2.4 million. The 28-year-old decided to join the Sixers to team up with Embiid following a forgettable (half) season playing with LeBron James and the Lakers.
Embiid was delighted to welcome Drummond to the Sixers. According to Embiid, he was just happy to have another formidable big man on the roster. They pretty much quashed their beef as soon as Drummond landed in Philadelphia:
“At that time, when he signed with us, I was happy because I’m like yo, like when you look at the previous years, it’s like every single time that I went off the floor, we always lost leads,” Embiid said of Drummond. “… In my mind when we signed him I just need someone who’s not gonna come on the floor and just lose leads. So I was like it fits what we need and I was fine with it.”
Being that this is Joel Embiid we're talking about here, he just couldn't help but relive his history with his now-former teammate. The five-time All-Star went into detail as he described how his beef with Drummond started in the first place:
“But then again, in my mind, I can never forget you know the old days when I used to go at him,” Embiid continued. “I remember posting a video of him dancing after I gave him like — about that story — so before that game, we go to Detroit. I had like, we lost that game, but I had like 30 and 10 and then he ended up getting ejected or whatever, but after the game, he was talking crazy like that man is out of shape, he can’t run and I’m like, What are you talking about? I know you just won, but I had like 30 on you and I’m out of shape? Watch what I’m about to do to you.
“The next meeting was like a couple of weeks later and I’m like, you all know what’s coming. So in that next meeting, I had like 32 in the first half. I was going at him. He was in foul trouble. I was going at him. I had 32 in the first half. I was like killing and we was up by a lot and all that stuff.”
What makes Embiid so good at talking smack is the fact that he's able to back it up. This was exactly the case with his previous rivalry with Drummond. After Drummond badmouthed Embiid following a clash on the basketball court, the latter responded in the best way possible. Embiid completely dominated Drummond in their next matchup. He let his game do the talking for him, but only after going at Drummond with some massive trolling on social media.
Embiid then did a bit of self-reflection as he opened up about his smack-talking ways. According to the Sixers superstar, this is all just part of who he is. However, he always maintains a certain level of respect towards his opponents. He never has any ill will against any of them:
“That’s when I remember, you texted me after the video that I posted. You were like, ‘you crazy.'” Embiid said to Green. “That’s what I do. I have a location like I own a lot of real estate and all that stuff, but that’s me like, always fun. Like it’s never serious where to the point where I’m like, I hate this man. I don’t want to be around this man. I never take it personal. I’m like bro, it stays on the court and that’s it. After we get off the court, if you want to talk to me, do whatever, unless you say something disrespectful to me, other than that, I will never be disrespectful to anybody, whether it’s going overboard and all that stuff so I know where to draw the line, but other than that, like, it’s funny to me like I just go with the vibe, man. I just love it.”
And these are just one of the things that make us love Joel Embiid. He's an old-school big man that isn't afraid to ruffle a few feathers on his way to the top. More importantly, though, Embiid has established himself as one of the best big men in the game today. As a matter of fact, he's emerged as one of the frontrunners for this year's MVP title. Not too many smack talkers in the league come with these types of credentials.
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