Joel Embiid’s X(formerly Twitter) account has been a treasure trove of drama and intrigue for quite some time now. The 2023 MVP doesn’t shy away from trolling people and has even engaged in some feuds with other players on the platform. However, former Miami Heat Center Hassan Whiteside noted that Embiid doesn’t engage in online feuds at the same rate any longer.
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During an appearance on The OGs podcast with Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, Whiteside spoke about his rivalry against the 2x scoring champion.
In 2017, the then-Eastern Conference rivals had a heated back-and-forth on X(then Twitter) after a preseason game. Haslem teased Whiteside about those exchanges, saying, “Y’all always used to talk on Twitter.”
Without delving deep into the subject, Whiteside pointed out how the 76ers Center has ceased such activities on the platform in recent times. He replied, “He slowed down a lot on that.”
Earlier in the conversation, the former Heat Center touched on his match-ups against the 7x All-Star. While he relished the tussles against Embiid, the 35-year-old wished that he had played more against him during his younger days.
At the same time, he highlighted Embiid’s foul-baiting techniques and acknowledged that these tactics enabled him to be much more dominant. Whiteside said,
“I wish I would have met Joel when I was a little younger so we could have had more battles, more of those battles throughout the years. I enjoyed every minute of it. He’ll get you with all the swipe-throughs but it definitely make you better. It was just a fun experience.”
Whiteside’s gripe about not getting enough against Embiid is justified. Their career timeline aligned well, but Embiid’s injury-riddled career start coupled with Whiteside’s short-lived prime limited their battles.
They squared off in 10 match-ups against each other as the 76ers Center prevailed in 7 of those battles. Embiid naturally had much better numbers against the offensively limited Whiteside. But outside of stats, their battles were always top-notch, even during the preseason games.
In fact, it was one of their preseason match-ups that triggered a huge war of words between them on X.
When Joel Embiid and Hassan Whiteside took shots at each other
During a pre-season game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat in 2017, Embiid had gestured toward the Heat bench after he had baited Whiteside into three straight fouls in the first minute.
After Bleacher Report posted the video showcasing Embiid’s taunt, Whiteside declared that they would never show him limiting the 76ers Center to 1/7 shooting in the game.
He referred to a tweet which pointed to the same and wrote, “The media won’t show that.” But then Embiid took various shots at the Heat Center, terming him a softy, selfish, and a liability.
In multiple tweets, he wrote, “Dude they had to take your a** out or you would’ve fouled out in 5 min. And keep caring about stats and not your team success….. your +/- was a** @youngwhiteside #Softy.”
Meanwhile, the Heat Center took shots at Embiid’s unavailability due to injuries. He jibed, “31 games in 3 yrs. Hopefully I get to see you regular season. #Embiid Eclipse #Solar Eclipse.”
The last match-up between the two came in 2021 when Whiteside was a part of the Jazz. Whiteside hasn’t clinched any roster spots since 2022, which means that his rivalry against Embiid was rather short-lived.
