Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers breezed past the Washington Wizards today, beating them 117-96. Joel Embiid had an amazing night with 36 points and 13 rebounds.
One prominent moment during the game was when Montrezl Harrell got ejected after two separate incidents against Joel Embiid, which earned him two technical fouls. The second technical foul assessed was due to Montrezl Harrell lightly pushing Joel Embiid after the latter got an and-1 play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHjOUDD5TWA
Joel Embiid has commented on his altercations with Montrezl Harrell, focusing on when Harrell got ejected. Joel Embiid jokingly claimed that he is “a troll” and that he got Harrell “out of his comfort zone” which subsequently got him ejected from the game.
More Embiid: "…Basketball is also mental. You got to be able to get in your opposition’s heads, and that's what I did."
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) December 27, 2021
“I wouldn’t say I baited him into that (second tech) but I like to think that I’m a troll. I like to think I kind of made him get out of his comfort zone, and that got him kicked out…
“…Basketball is also mental. You got to be able to get in your opposition’s heads, and that’s what I did.”
Montrezl Harrell has already offered an opinion of his own on the situation, calling out Joel Embiid and telling him to “stand on” his toughness. It is clear that he wasn’t happy with Joel Embiid getting him ejected from the game. It remains to be seen if Joel Embiid will respond to Montrezl Harrell’s comments about this incident in the future.
The Philadelphia 76ers are currently 17-16, and they are remarkably still a playoff team (6th seed in Eastern Conference) even without 3-time All-Star Ben Simmons. Joel Embiid’s play has been a huge part of that. Hopefully, this sort of stellar play continues from him and the team, and there’s no doubt that he’s shown that he is an MVP-Caliber player with his recent performances.
