The Philadelphia 76ers’ offseason can be described in a number of ways, and saying that it’s controversial is one way to put it. For Sixers big man Joel Embiid, it was also “hurtful.”

And no. Embiid was not referring to the bite he got from a lion cub in South Africa this week. Instead, it was the tweets from the burner Twitter accounts of ex-Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo and his wife, Barbara Bottini, that upset Embiid’s feelings.

In a recent interview with ESPN, Embiid described the unpleasant impact of those tweets on himself but also pointed out that he’s now using those critical sentiments as a motivation to get better, starting next season (h/t Dan Feldman of NBC Sports).

“It was hurtful because of the stuff that was said in those tweets. But at the end of the day, I know who I am as a person, as a player. And I know a lot of people, they're always telling me I'm great but I have a lot of stuff to work on. And actually, I appreciated everything that was said about me because if it was true—even if it wasn't—that stays in my mind. And it makes me want to get better.”

The burner Twitter accounts castigated Joel Embiid for allegedly hiding an injury, going out to see a Meek Mill concert despite being hurt, and for having a low emotional threshold.

Colangelo later split their ways during the fallout of the controversy, and the Sixers could be considered lucky that Embiid didn’t let those tweets strain his relationship with the team.