Joel Embiid is a bit of a troll if you haven't noticed. Before last night's matchup against the Orlando Magic, the Sixers' center instructed arena officials to play Sheck Wes' "Mo Bamba" whenever he beat the Magic rookie 1-on-1 for a score, and that's exactly what happened in the early going of Saturday's closely-fought contest.
As you can see, Embidd squares up with Bamba on the baseline, pivots his right foot, and leaves the rookie lying in his wake for an easy finish. As Embiid waltzes back on defense, the Arena PA devilishly plays the song made in Bamba's honor. The ESPN television crew zeroes in on Embiid bobbing his head, as he basks in the immaculate execute of his next-level troll.
Embiid's friendly grudge with Mo Bamba started in the offseason while the two were training together in one-on-one post-ups. The "rivalry" filtered into the preseason when the Sixers bested the Magic for a 120-114 win, Embiid finishing with 21 points. After the game, the two centers traded jabs on Twitter with Embiid insisting Bamba's "skinny ass" can't guard him. In retaliation, the rookie center posted an image which alluded to a near-posterization that never happened. Inevitably it is Embiid who scored the most recent W, but make no mistake about it, the gritty campaign has all but started between the two up-and-coming centers.