Ever since he arrived on the NBA scene, Joel Embiid has had a reputation for being a prankster, and he has continued his antics this season. During the preseason he jokingly(?) feuded with Hassan Whiteside on Twitter, and he has also had social-media jokes for the Ball family and the Golden State Warriors.
Now, Embiid is trolling Jalen Rose.
Last week, after recording his historic 46-point, 15-rebound, seven-block, seven-assist performance, Embiid said he was only at 69 percent in terms of his conditioning level. With a few more games under his belt now, Embiid is apparently feeling better, as he told Michael Smith and Jemele Hill on ESPN that he's up to 81 percent.
Embiid: “I’m at 81%, shoutout Jalen Rose” 😂😂☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ (h/t @RealMattCarey cc @johnwintertweet) pic.twitter.com/uEsAns9Mww
— Drew Corrigan (@Dcorrigan50) November 22, 2017
The exchange:
Smith: Where are you right now?
Embiid: I was talking about... we were basically talking about my conditioning level. It's getting there, it's getting there. I think I'm at uh 81 percent. Shoutout Jalen Rose.
Rose, of course, was a part of the Raptors team that gave up 81 points to Kobe Bryant back in 2006, and does not like to be reminded of that fact. Even when he filmed a humorous commercial with Bryant earlier this year, Rose did not look thrilled when Bryant made an "81" reference.
We'll see if Rose has anything to say about Embiid's latest gag.