2. Joel Embiid: Real estate mogul
Joel Embiid gets up when he plays top-notch big men. He puts Andre Drummond in a straight jacket. He’s shown us he can punish Anthony Davis. Even excellent defenders like Myles Turner and Rudy Gobert have felt the wrath of Joel Embiid.
If someone wants to put a big man in the same conversation with Joel Embiid, he looks to dominate. Embiid has always had the seek-and-destroy mindset against his best competition. Karl-Anthony Towns is no different. Embiid looks to steamroll him at every opportunity and Oct. 30 was no different.
The Sixers have defeated the Timberwolves five straight times. Excluding last night’s 20-point victory, the last time Joel Embiid suited up against Minnesota he scored 31 points and you can probably guess who he was matched up with for most of the night. Embiid has come up victorious in their past several matches but the physicality and stat-sheet stuffing has surely been kindling for the fire.
Joel Embiid’s last score before the altercation was a grown-man, get outta my way bucket, followed by a flex of his python-like arms. KAT was getting tossed around in a lopsided game and got fed up, but Embiid was chipping away at his psyche long before last night. Once you let Joel Embiid invade your headspace, there’s no turning back.