Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Last week, Joel Embiid was a guest speaker on Draymond Green’s podcast. The two had some strong words to exchange.
Joel Embiid and Draymond Green are no strangers to a little bit of healthy trash talking. Last June, Green challenged Embiid in a series of tweets telling him to shoot every play and “go Shaq mode.” Embiid un-coincidentally began to shoot three-pointers but didn’t have much success.
Though the two have a history of publicly trash-talking each other, they still hold a high level of respect for one another (via Mark Haynes, ClutchPoints).
“He’s a great defender. There’s nothing I can take away from that. He’s a great one-on-one defender. He’s a good team defender. You know he’s very smart,” Embiid said.
Green and Embiid have played against each other in six games total, and their stats in each game have been quite similar. The two seem to be perfect competition for each other. Each player won three games out of the six, and overall, Embiid had higher averages in points and rebounds, and Green had higher averages in assists, steals and blocks.
Green and Embiid have yet to play against each other in the playoffs, but there is a strong possibility that match-up could happen this season in the NBA Finals. Green currently plays for the Golden State Warriors, who are third in the Western Conference and Embiid plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Both are extremely talented players, and it seems as though the trash talk will be a motivating factor for one another.