I don’t know what nerve Joel Embiid touched within Eric Bledsoe, but it was a big one.
It’s no secret that Joel Embiid had been buying up real estate in the minds of his opponents, and it appears Eric Bledsoe is the latest one he’s put a house in.
That’s not just me saying that out of thin air. In a tweet regarding his prime nemesis, Andre Drummond, he said that he owns a ton of real estate in his mind, and is going for more in what has to be the best trolling of an opponent I’ve ever seen.
This is Embiid’s forte. It’s beautiful for us as basketball fans, and has become really annoying for his opponents, especially for Bledsoe, who finally snapped back at Embiid in their Thursday night matchup in Philly.
What makes his dust-up slightly weird is that it occurred early in the game, like barley six minutes into the game. It seemed like a harmless basketball play as Embiid and Bledsoe were jostling for a rebound. Embiid, who towers over Bledsoe, easily overpowered him and shoved him to the free throw line.
Bledsoe didn’t take that too kindly, and after there was no rebound to be had because of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s made 3-pointer, Bledsoe decided to give Embiid a “love push.”
Again, it wasn’t really harmless. Embiid tossed the ball at Bledsoe, not in a hard way, but in a “here, I think this belongs to you” kind of way. Bledsoe caught the ball and hurled it back to Embiid, which ignited the small dust-up. Embiid and Mike Scott, who tried to toss the ball back to Bledsoe but missed badly, received technicals, and Bledsoe was thrown out of the game for starting the small melee with his shove and hurling the ball at Embiid.
Seems like Embiid’s real estate portfolio has just gotten a bit bigger.