Joel Embiid tweeted that he’s unhappy, and we’ve got theories as to why.
Joel Embiid has plenty of reasons to be unhappy. Aside from the coronavirus pandemic and rampant social justice issues that everyone in America has had to contend with in 2020, Embiid is coming off a first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics that was played without Ben Simmons, his injured co-star.
The Philadelphia 76ers‘ roster and salary cap situation is a mess, with no easy fix in sight.
And what’s worse, Embiid now has to watch his former teammate, Jimmy Butler, tear it up as the Miami Heat take on the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the playoffs.
During a commercial break of Game 2 between the Heat and Bucks, Embiid took the opportunity to tweet out that he was “still really unhappy.”
We’ve got some theories about what Joel Embiid was referencing
There are several options to explain what Embiid meant by that tweet:
- He’s authentically unhappy about the state of the Sixers
- He’s once again lamenting that Philly let Jimmy Butler go
- He’s preparing an Eric Bledsoe-esque escape from Philadelphia so he can contend
- He’s referencing his Mountain Dew commercials
More than likely, it’s probably a combination of Nos. 2 and 4. Embiid tweeted that out right after another airing of his Mountain Dew commercial, which starts with the narrator saying, “Joel Embiid is unhappy,” to which the Sixers All-Star responds, “Like, really unhappy.”
There’s a good chance he was just using the clever little reference — during a Heat game — to convey how much he misses having Butler on his team. Jimmy Buckets dropped a playoff career-high 40 points in Game 1 and Miami was off to another strong start in Game 2, so it’d be no surprise if The Process was tuning in, longingly remembering the days when the 76ers still had him around.
This could also low-key be a cry for help, given Philadelphia’s financial inflexibility and likely inability to get better anytime soon as he and Simmons embark on their quest to contend for championships. For now, though, we’re willing to give JoJo the benefit of the doubt here and assume it was just a joke plugging one of his sponsors while showing his appreciation for a former teammate.
Update: Joel Embiid did in fact play the whole thing off as a Mountain Dew joke, tweeting soon after:
Good thing we gave him the benefit of the doubt.