Most NBA players would probably remain quiet after getting into a major on-court fight. After all, the league office is no doubt watching everything that the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves are doing right now as it attempts to figure out who needs to get suspended following their on-court brawl Wednesday, and for how long.
Joel Embiid is not most NBA players, and apparently, neither is Karl-Anthony Towns. Embiid struck first on social media. He took to Instagram soon after the game ended to attack Towns after their on-court fight. In that post, he not only called Towns a "cat," playing off of his initials, but even invoked their mutual former teammate, Jimmy Butler, who demanded a trade from Towns' Timberwolves and landed on Embiid's 76ers last season.
This probably isn't going to help Embiid's case as the league figures out how long he should be suspended, but at this point, not making this kind of comment would have been an affront to his brand. This isn't even the first time he and Towns have clashed on social media. Two years ago, Embiid posted this picture on Instagram. When Towns criticized the image's quality, Embiid responded by saying it was "better quality than your defense."
Towns didn't take the insult lying down. He posted an Instagram story as well titled "All Bark & No Bite" featuring unflattering pictures of Embiid, culminating in one of him crying after Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season. The caption? A direct quote from Embiid's own post, that you'll have to read to believe, as the feud between the All-Star big men appears to be escalating. Embiid has naturally already responded.
Towns and Embiid are almost certain to draw suspensions from this incident. Ben Simmons, who had Towns in a chokehold at one point, should as well. The league will have to parse through all of this tomorrow, and it will almost certainly take these comments into account. Typically, it prefers players to at least show some degree of remorse when they do something wrong, and fighting is a serious offense in such an image-conscious league. Both players took the complete opposite approach. It will probably cost them a few extra games, but in terms of social media currency, both are winners tonight.
