Trash talk is a staple of basketball. Whether you’re playing on streets at your local court or all the way up to the NBA, you’ll hear trash talk up and down the court. There are countless stories about legendary NBA trash talkers such as Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, and Kevin Garnett. The storylines created from such trash talking has resulted in some of the best rivalries in the NBA. It creates a relatable personal investment for the viewers and added inspiration for the players. It’s just plain fun.
The issue is, many of today’s stars haven’t been much for trash talking. In fact, four of the biggest stars in the last decade, Chris Paul, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony, are great buddies who have taken many vacations together such as the famed banana boat trip. As a result, former NBA players have taken to the media to claim that today’s NBA is too “soft”. The NBA, in the opinion of many, has lost its edge, it’s all about flash rather than grit anymore. With all that said, is that about to change?
Enter Joel Embiid:
Embiid, unfortunately, hasn’t played a whole lot in his NBA career. Injuries have derailed an otherwise promising start. However, if you’ve followed Embiid on social media, you’ll notice right away he is an outspoken character. Now that he’s playing, that outspoken nature naturally leads him to trash talking, even against his own teammates:
Embiid (jokingly) trash talking Saric: "I would love to play vs him all the time bc that gives me a lot of confidence beating him everyday."
— Jessica Camerato (@JCameratoNBCS) February 22, 2017
Joel Embiid has taken that fire to his opponents as well. His first victim was Hassan Whiteside where the jawing started on the court and continued on social media afterward. The conversation looked like this with Embiid taking some heavy hits:
Just this week, Embiid and Andre Drummond were talking back and forth during their matchup. Embiid won the matchup with 30 points and 9 rebounds along with a Sixers win, but the talk continued after the game. In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Embiid said “he doesn’t play defense” when asked about Drummond. Drummond responded with this Tweet:
See you Dec 2nd?
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) October 24, 2017
Now trash talking has always happened on the court, that’s never really gone away. However, this off-court ribbing and trash talking has been somewhat of a rarity in the NBA for the last ten years or so. Guys like the Banana Boat Crew have been great ambassadors for the NBA and incredible players to watch, but at the same time, they play it pretty safe in interviews. Sure, they speak their minds at times, but rarely have we seen them go back and forth with players like this (minus LeBron getting at Chuck this summer).
What we’re seeing here is good and fun competition. We are seeing some fire from these up and comers which is a good thing. The late 80’s and 90’s were a lot of fun because there were so many personal rivalries to watch. You had MJ/Bulls v IT/Pistons, Bird/Celtics v Magic/Lakers, Reggie/Pacers v Starks/Knicks, Chuck/Suns v Hakeem/Rockets, and so on. Those rivalries were created by a feeling that you can’t lose to those teams/players under any circumstances. Fans and players alike had those games circled on their calendars. It made the games feel like they meant more than just a win.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
With all that said, not everything needs to return from the 80’s and 90’s. Some of the grittiness from that era was due to lack of rules that would allow egregious fouling and downright dirty plays. The game has cleaned up in many ways since then and that’s for the better. We don’t want star players getting injured due to an undercut or players jumping on their backs. What this article is referring to is the spirit of the game. The battle between players where they’ll fight for what is theirs. Today’s NBA needs a shot of pride in the arm and a great way for players to show that is by showing how they care about winning each and every game and dominating their opponents. Show some grit, show some toughness, and show some loyalty to your teammates and fans.
This is a call for bringing some fight back into the NBA. Will Embiid be the knight in shining armor?
