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One of Joel Embiid’s popular nicknames to develop in recent years with the Philadelphia 76ers has been “Troel”. It’s a clever take on the ever-growing common term “troll”, which, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is to “antagonize [others] online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content.”
While much of Embiid’s internet-trolling is pretty harmless, the nickname fits the Cameroonian quite well, and in the last 24 hours, he’s proven why.
With the Ben Simmons drama back in full swing, Embiid started chiming in with a seemingly innocent tweet Tuesday night, using his favorite soccer team as a segue.
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The humorous Embiid tweet was sent out shortly after it was made public that Simmons may hold out of training camp if he hasn’t been traded yet, so the timing is no coincidence.
‘I Love Playing With Ben. … I Hope Everyone Is Back…’
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GettyPhiladelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and point guard Ben Simmons prior to a playoff game in June.
After yesterday’s ironic message on social media, the recently-extended Embiid seemed to shift his tone after reports came out of a “rift” between the pair of star players.
Last season’s MVP runner-up added one more message shortly after that, taking a jab at the media.
“From my own experience, ya’ll have no idea how much this media makes up stuff for followers and shame on you for believing them,” Embiid wrote.
This isn’t the first time this summer where reports of a fractured Embiid-Simmons relationship had come to the surface. In early August, it was widely reported that Simmons wasn’t returning Embiid’s phone calls and that “damage” had been done.
‘Philly Fans, Ya’ll Also Gotta Be Better’
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GettyPhiladelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and point guard Ben Simmons during a game in February.
Embiid first voiced his displeasure with the media, before moving on to [some] 76ers fans.
“I haven’t forgotten but 2 years ago, I got booed, people in Philly wanted me to be traded. I even shushed them,” the 27-year-old wrote. “Only the real ones didn’t but I just put the work in that offseason to be better cuz I knew I wasn’t playing up to my potential. Philly fans, y’all also gotta be better.”
It appears now that Embiid has finished his Wednesday rant, but before he signed off for the day, he re-tweeted an epic audio clip from early 2020 that seemed to backup his “fan” theory, and also sent out one parting thought.
“For clarity, I love the criticism, I love when I’m told I can’t do something. It makes me work harder to prove everyone wrong but not everyone is built like that,” Embiid tweeted.
The Sixers are now closer to the official tip-off to their 2021-2022 campaign than they are past the shocking conclusion to last season, so most will agree that it’s time to move on from the Simmons drama. It’s far easier said than done, but one can’t help but wonder what would currently be transpiring with Simmons if the Sixers had defeated the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals back in June.
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