The latest installment in the ongoing feud between Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns turned physical on Wednesday night, and the two big men took it from the court to social media.
Not long after both players were ejected following a scuffle under the basket during the third quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers-Minnesota Timberwolves game, Embiid and Towns began trading shots on Instagram. Embiid said he was “raised around Lions and a cat pulled on me tonight,” which Towns clearly thought was a corny line. He mocked Embiid for saying it and shared a photo of Embiid crying after a playoff loss, which Embiid defended by saying Towns wouldn’t know how that feels. Here’s a good summary:
Embiid and Towns have long had problems with each other, largely owing to their status as top big men in the game. In December 2017, Embiid rubbed it in on social media after getting a win over Towns’ Timberwolves, which led to a response from Towns. Then when the teams met again in March last year, Embiid took another shot at Towns.
Joel Embiid is so savage and has absolutely zero chill.
Embiid was ejected in the third quarter of his Philadelphia 76ers’ 117-95 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. He and longtime nemesis Karl-Anthony Towns got into a fight that led to their ejection.
The two had beefed on social media for a few years prior to the fight, so it was no surprise Embiid took to social media to deliver a knockout blow.
The 76ers big man posted the following note on Instagram: “Great team win!!! I was raised around lions and a cat pulled on me tonight lmao @jimmybutler I missed being part of the 3rd stringers… I got his mom giving middle fingers. That’s some SERIOUS REAL ESTATE”
Embiid also tagged his post location as “Broad Street Bullies Pub,” as a reference to the fight.
There will be some people who say we shouldn’t joke about the fight that occurred on Wednesday night between Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns, but there were just some really funny aspects of it that cannot be ignored.
First off, Embiid doing some shadowboxing after the scrap with Towns was hilarious.
Simmons’ outside shooting has been targeted as his lone weakness, and some have pointed out how Simmons shoots the ball lefty but does nearly everything else with his right, including the headlock and how he throws a ball.
Embiid and Towns were ejected, and the NBA will probably hand out some more discipline. But forgive us for laughing at Simmons’ headlock and Towns tapping like it were a real fight. We officially declare Simmons 1-0 with a victory via submission.
Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns have a long history with each other, and that negative history boiled over and led to a fight on Wednesday night that resulted in their ejections.
Embiid and Towns got into a scuffle under the basket during the third quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers-Minnesota Timberwolves game. The two were pushing each other, and then Towns swung his arm around Embiid like he was trying to put him in a headlock. The two got in a clinch and wrestled each other to the floor and got separated by coaches.
Embiid seemed to make a joke of things by throwing some air punches afterwards.
The referees did not find matters as funny and handed out double technical fouls and ejected both players.
Embiid and Towns have long had problems with each other, largely owing to their status as top big men in the game. In December 2017, Embiid rubbed it in on social media after getting a win over Towns’ Timberwolves, which led to a response from Towns. Then when the teams met again in March last year, Embiid took another shot at Towns.
Embiid had 19 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes prior to exit. Towns had 13 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes.
Braids are generally seen as an outdated style, but Kawhi Leonard has been rocking them and just won NBA Finals MVP. Maybe Towns is trying to capture some of that Kawhi braids drip for the upcoming season.
The 23-year-old center is entering his fifth season in the league and coming off back-to-back All-Star selections. Towns has averaged 22.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game during his NBA career and is looking to get the Timberwolves back to the playoffs.
“I’m tremendously happy,” said Towns. “I love my front office. I love my coaching staff. I think we’ve made great moves and great changes. I love the culture here. If you want to leave, you have to be miserable somewhere. I am not there. I’m planning to be in Minnesota for a long time.”
Towns, who posted 24.4 points and 12.4 rebounds per game last season en route to his second career All-Star selection, signed a five-year, $190 million supermax extension with the Wolves, which will kick in starting next season.
While the former No. 1 overall pick is often criticized and regularly overlooked in the conversation of the NBA’s best big men, Towns’ two-way production at just 23 years old is truly rare, and it sounds like he can be the stable bedrock with which the team can comfortably build around for the future.
All signs continue to point to D’Angelo Russell joining the Minnesota Timberwolves.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Russell has been in contact with Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns as recently as Saturday as the Timberwolves seek to clear the necessary cap room to add Russell to the roster.
D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns were huddling as recently as yesterday, league sources, while the Wolves have been canvassing the league to make the trades they need to make that can seal the former Nets All-Star as the new point guard in Minnesota
It’s still unclear how the Nets will handle Russell at this situation. A trade is possible, or they could still rescind their rights to him and grant him unrestricted free agency, which seems to be the scenario Minnesota is preparing for. What’s clear is that they are Russell’s preferred destination, and it looks likely that he’ll land there one way or another.
Making one of the All-NBA teams is not just a matter of prestige and recognition for basketball players. Now, the voting of these honors has practical effects on the money certain players can earn on their contracts.
In order to incentivize the best players to remain with their current teams, the league made changes that allow teams to offer more money via the “supermax” contracts to their veteran, often homegrown star players who either win an MVP, get named Defensive Player of the Year, or make one of the All-NBA teams in a recent season.
So who was most strongly affected by the All-NBA voting? Let’s take a look.
1) Klay Thompson loses about $30 million
Thompson has made five straight All-Star teams, but he did not make the All-NBA team. He also did not make an All-NBA team in either of the previous two seasons, which will prevent him from signing a supermax deal. Rather than being eligible to sign a 5-year, $221 million contract, he will be able to top out at around $191 million over five years in a deal from the Warriors. This is good news for the Warriors, as he will be somewhat cheaper to sign. They also can offer Thompson much more money and an extra year compared to other teams looking to sign him as a free agent.
The Minnesota Timberwolves may have dodged a bullet on Karl-Anthony Towns’ knee injury.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Timberwolves are optimistic about the status of the knee after the player underwent an MRI.
There is optimism about the MRI results on right knee of Minnesota All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, league sources tell ESPN. He left victory over Washington with injury on Saturday night.
Towns sustained the injury at the end of regulation Saturday night, when he limped to the locker room. While it initially looked potentially serious, coach Ryan Saunders downplayed the severity of it after the game, and the MRI results seem to back that up. His status is unclear moving forward, but it doesn’t sound like anything that will sideline him for a lengthy period of time.
Karl-Anthony Towns exited Saturday night’s win over the Washington Wizards late in the game with a knee injury, but early indications are that it was not serious.
Towns walked off the court under his own power with just seconds remaining, though he was clearly hobbled.
Prayers up to Karl-Anthony Towns who limped off the court with an apparent knee injury. pic.twitter.com/9JSfOv3b9k
Following the 135-130 win, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said Towns would undergo further testing but that he had “not heard concern” about a serious injury.
Ryan Saunders said Karl-Anthony Towns was walking around, said he "has not heard concern" of a serious injury with Towns. But Towns needs to undergo further testing.
The T-Wolves are now six games back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, so they may play it safe with Towns. The big man is having another phenomenal season, averaging 24.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
