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When Sixers’ Joel Embiid Cried, Mocked His Own Self, and Fought with a Rival on Social Media

Published 09/22/2021, 10:02 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The Sixers were in really bad shape until Joel Embiid happened. Prior to 2017 (Joel’s second active year), the 76ers were coming off a 4-year 75/328 W/L record which meant just about 22.8% wins. However, everything soon changed and they won 50+ games in the immediate two seasons. Still, something really unfortunate was awaiting them and Joel.

In the 2019 NBA playoffs, the 51-win Sixers met the Brooklyn Nets in Round 1 and trashed them with a 4-1 record. Then, they led Round 2 with 2-1 until the Raptors came back in the game. And in no time, things went down to Game 7’s last second when Kawhi Leonard scored a wibbly-wobbly buzzer-beater to snatch the series.

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When Joel Embiid cried like a teenager

In those final seconds, a pass from Marc Gasol towards Kawhi Leonard led to The Claw going past Ben Simmons and attempting a three over 7’2” Joel Embiid. As they squatted to see the parabola, the time froze, and Embiid couldn’t believe his fate. Another year went to waste.

So while going to the locker room from inside the tunnel, the cameras caught the star center crying and sobbing like a teenager. This soon picked the internet’s interest and became a meme face. Philly fans are always hard to please and a 7-footer 25-YO crying man just gave everyone a reason to mock him. Plus, he could average his playoff-low of 20.2 ppg in those 11 games and that became another bruise.

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However, The Process handled it well as he changed his Twitter display picture with a collage of him crying. The netizens welcomed the self-mocking and heavily praised him for bravely accepting the failure.

This was just one of the many tweets from verified accounts that came out in his instant support.

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When Karl-Anthony Towns mocked the Sixers leader for his emotional display

On October 30th, 2019, the Sixers and the Wolves were both playing their fourth game of the brand new season. That night, the 76ers took a 22-point blowout victory after demolishing the Timberwolves 117-95. But the highlight of the game became the physical fight between Joel Embiid and KAT. 

Post the game, the 6’11” Center took a jab at The Process on his Instagram. The man called his rival out and said “I ain’t no bitch, raised around lions” and re-posted the teary-eyed Joel. 

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To this, the king of banters, Joel, responded in absolute style and again won back the fans’ support. He, in return, made fun of KAT’s postseason failures and fewer achievements.

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The 4x All-Star had the last laugh. When this was all happening, could you remember if you were supporting or mocking Embiid? Help us read in the comments below.

Watch this story – Joel Embiid, Vernon Maxwell, and Other NBA Players Who Got into Brawl with Fans

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Written by:

Sourabh Singh

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Sourabh Singh is an NBA sports analyst for EssentiallySports, who has been working with the site since May 2020. Prior to this, he functioned as Managing Editor at WittyFeed, followed by a stint at Decathlon. The Sports Management graduate leads an active lifestyle, veering to the mountains for off-trail adventures.
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