Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns can’t be rivals

After Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns let emotions erupt into a scuffle during the Philadelphia 76ers fourth win, there is no comparing the two centers.

Perhaps the greatest thing about sports is its unpredictability.

Following suit, with just under seven minutes to go in the third quarter, an otherwise smooth-sailing contest between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers took a drastic turn in the form of a brawl.

At the center of that brawl stood two 7-foot plus giants: Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns.

More from Philadelphia 76ers

• 3 Reasons the 76ers Should Poach Blake Griffin From the Celtics
• 3 Most Overpaid 76ers Heading Into the 2023 Season
• Ranking Daryl Morey’s 3 Biggest Mistakes with 76ers
• 3 Teams Crazy Enough to Trade for James Harden
• James Harden Putting Career in Jeopardy With Holdout Threat

A defensive double team initiated by Embiid caused Towns to lose possession of the basketball. Soon after, what started as a turnover evolved into a series of arm swings, eye pokes, body pilings, and an infamous choke-or-no-choke hold by Sixers guard Ben Simmons on Towns.

The result: Embiid and Towns were suspended two games apiece, while Simmons was void of suspension and seen as a peacemaker, according to
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

Watch a replay of the fight, courtesy of ESPN, here.

Embiid and Anthony-Towns are each a must-watch in their own right. Embiid boasts a line of 23.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game this season. Towns has garnered respect for his 27.3 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists a game chalked up this season. The two young stars, who own four All-Star appearances between them, are unquestioned leaders on two rising squads.

With their stats and youth in mind, NBA scholars and fans seem to be licking their chops at a fiery rivalry brewing between Embiid and Towns. The two players share the potential to continue elite play on the court, and there is no imminent end to their respective careers in sight.

Despite this, there are key attributes missing between Embiid and Towns that could diminish the potential of their Instagram beef-session morphing into one of the great player rivalries in the Association.

Competitiveness

Competitiveness is an essential ingredient to any player rivalry. An NBA fan should be left to question of who is going to get the best of who when the two rivals lace-up.

Embiid holds a 5-1 record in his career against Towns, and in all five victories, Embiid has outscored Towns. The lone loss came in their first matchup back in 2016.

Check out the history of their match-ups here from Land of Basketball.

The loss seemed inevitable with 20/20 hindsight. The Sixers roster featured a plethora of NBA castaways like Sergio Rodríguez, Hollis Thompson, and Nik Stauskas. All three of those players logged at least 20 minutes of action.

Of the five victories, Embiid owns against Towns, perhaps the three most recent tell the story.

In the last three contests between the two centers, Embiid’s Sixers have defeated Town’s Wolves by double digits. The average margin of defeat is a whopping 25.3 points.

If it’s inevitable that every time Embiid and Towns lace up the Sixers will drub the Wolves, this player rivalry will lose its luster.

Towns is no slouch in his matchups against Embiid, however, as the Kentucky product out-rebounded Embiid in four of their matchups, logging an impressive 16 rebounds on two separate occasions.

Nonetheless, the NBA is a game of wins and losses, and it’s clear Embiid’s Sixers have found a way to get the best of Town’s Wolves consistently and in dominant fashion.

Rematch?

For a sports rivalry to remain in the headlines, there needs to be ample opportunities to rewrite the script.

In other words, the teams must match-up often. The best rivalries across all sports usually feature two teams residing in the same division or, at least, conference.

Unfortunately, the East’s Sixers and West’s Wolves reside in separate conferences. In the NBA, this means that the Sixers and Wolves will square-up a mere two games amidst an 82-game season.

The only way a player rivalry can succeed between players of separate conferences is when both players are legends in the respective sport.

For example, years ago, when LeBron James played for the East’s Cleveland Cavaliers and Kobe Bryant still played for the West’s Los Angeles Lakers had a rivalry brewing solely because both players were in the discussion of the best player in the sport.

Embiid and Towns are not on the legacy level championed by James and Bryant in the late 2000s. Thus, this cross-conference rivalry will eventually reach life support.

The Wolves twitter account tweeted at the conclusion of the Sixers-Wolves game, “see you again on March 24, @Sixers.”

Perhaps there is revenge seething through that tweet, but it must be tempered; there are about five months to elapse before their second and final matchup. It will be immensely difficult for the Embiid-Towns rivalry to stay in the forefront of NBA minds since their two matchups sit on almost opposite ends of the NBA season.

For teams from opposite conferences, the only chance to see each other more than twice in a season is in the NBA finals. Thus, the only way for Embiid and Towns to see significant time in opposition would be in June.

Call me crazy, but that’s highly unlikely.

If the Sixers win the East and the Wolves win the West, perhaps there may be a rivalry brewing.

But for now, let’s pump the brakes on an Embiid-Towns rivalry and let an otherwise exciting and unforeseen NBA season play out.