Sitting down on ‘The Old Man & The Three’ podcast, Joel Embiid took a minute to give his list of the biggest trash talkers in the game.
Guys like Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, and even Devin Booker made the cut.
Timberwolves point guard, and notorious trash talker, Patrick Beverley, however, was noticeably absent.
Embiid explained the exclusion in a way Beverley probably won’t appreciate.
“The way I also look at trash talk is, like, you gotta back it up. Like I’ll mention one name, no disrespect…”
At this point, JJ Redick cuts him off to say he already knows who he’s gonna call out. It was Beverley.
“I feel like, yeah, he’s fun and all that stuff and it’s good for you guys [points to the podcast co-hosts] on tv to talk about the next morning or wherever that is,” said Embiid. “But I feel like if you can’t back it up, I don’t know, to me it just feels weird to be in a position where like you’re always talking trash nonstop, nonstop. But like how are you gonna back it up? Are you gonna come down, get the ball and go score on the person and then go on the other end and lock him down and talk more trash? He can’t do it because that’s what he does, he gonna score on you and he’s gonna come down on the other end, try to lock you down.”
Beverley has become rather notorious for his trash talk. Not too long ago, he threw a jab at Embiid for allegedly getting preferential treatment from the officials.
“Call the foul on Joel Embiid, it’s okay… He not a champion and he got no MVPs,” Bev told a ref during their last matcup.
There’s also the game against the Lakers when Beverley trolled LeBron James (of all people) amid a blowout win in Los Angeles.
Clearly, the veteran guard has no shame when it comes to talking down to his competition. But considering his status as a role-player, at best, not everyone takes him as seriously as he takes himself.
Joel Embiid certainly isn’t worried about it.