Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid reigns supreme as the NBA’s top center

By thoroughly dominating Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid further cemented himself as the best center in the NBA.

Joel Embiid is the most entertaining player in the NBA.

The polar opposite of typically reserved backcourt foil Ben Simmons (more on that here), Embiid has embraced what it means to be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers more than any other player – all the while capturing the hearts of his adoptive city.

To put it simply, Embiid couldn’t be symbolic of what it means to be a Sixer if he played in the Franklin costume.

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But despite his flashy persona, feathery touch, and sheer dominance at both ends of the court, challengers are always going to come along to, well, challenge for moniker ‘The best center in the NBA’. His most recent challenger? Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns.

That’s right, in a game initially billed as Robert Covington versus Matisse Thybulle in a bizarro ‘Gemini Man’-type situation (though the two aren’t all that comparable), things quickly shifted to a knock-down, drag-out South Philly street fight – emphasis on the fight.

Skyrocketing to a 20-point lead midway through the second quarter, things got awful testy between the 76ers and the Timberwolves. The fouls came hard, the shots kept coming, and despite posting an identical 3-0 record going into the game, it became abundantly clear which team was a legit contender and which had no business making postseason plans.

This animosity turned physical.

In one of the most memorable brawls in recent memory, Embiid, KAT, and Simmons took to the floor after a few pushes, and a half-hearted punch brought things to a fever pitch. While Embiid quickly exited the pile – mostly composed of team security and assistant coaches – but Simmons remained quite literally locked in on Towns for what felt like ages.

The fight resulted in a pair of ejections, one of the most entertaining exits from a game in recent memory, and Simmons earning a whole lot of respect for his willingness to deploy a headlock to defend his teammate’s honor.

Oh yeah, and the 76ers’ fourth straight win of the season – their first 4-0 start since 2000-01.

But as things often go in this modern era of social connectivity, the brawl did not go quietly into the night. No, Embiid fired first with a tasteful (by Philly standards) IG post.

See what I mean? Nothing profane(ish), nothing too crazy, and even a nice shout out to a former teammate. As far as Embiid’s social media attacks go, this was fairly tame – until it wasn’t. KAT quickly swung back in the comments section, to which Embiid dropped an absolutely scathing retort that I simply can’t repost for fear of offending (you can check it out here if you dare).

In a way, I feel kind of bad for Towns. A life-long Eagles fan who hails from Edison, New Jersey, it must be hard to achieve so much, so early, only to be consistently compared unfavorably to a player like Embiid wearing your city’s name on his back.

I’d be mad too, but getting into a fight on the court? That’s just playing into Embiid’s hands.

Crazy like a fox, Embiid is a master of his public image and knows exactly which buttons to press to elicit a reaction without being obnoxious about it (depending on who you ask). By throwing a fist, KAT sealed the Sixers win in front of his friends and family, without having a chance to compete for a full 48 minutes.

And for Joel Embiid? Well, this relatively uneventful fight in a lopsided win added yet another chapter to his legacy, his legend in the City of Brotherly Love. Make no mistake, this Philadelphia 76ers team is really good and has pulled off four straight wins in four very different ways, but through it all, it’s their leader, ‘The Process’, who keeps this team moving forward like a shark towards an NBA Championship.

The moral of the story? Never bet on a Minnesota team to win in Philly. Sorry KAT.