The Philadelphia 76ers lost an eminently winnable game last night against the Kings in Sacramento, 102-100. The team turned the ball over 22 times, including a career-high eight from Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor hit a couple early buckets and then did nothing the rest of the game, and DeMarcus Cousins scored 30, including the game-winning three (!) for Sactown in the final minute. It would've been a really nice win against a team whose will to live it behooves the Sixers to destroy, but it wasn't to be this Boxing Day.
Whatever. All that really matters is that we got this classic game of ass-slapping one-upsmanship from Embiid and Cousins:
It's already been looped nearly a million times, which should come as no surprise to anyone.
It just goes to show you what kind of respect Embiid -- who also had 25 points, eight boards, and a couple blocks and steals -- is already getting around the league from even the game's most cantankerous, bullying veterans. Normally if you explained that DeMarcus got into a physical altercation with a young big who dared start talking smack to him, you would assume it involved a lot less giggling and horseplay than this. But Joel just brings such joy wherever he goes that what would normally be a bad-vibes fest of flying bows and laser-shooting scowls instead becomes an on-court pillow fight. It's beautiful.
https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/813626632514703360
"I don't give a lot of people props, but I like that kid a lot," confessed a still-chuckling Boogie after the game. "I think he got a great chance of being the best big in this league... after I retire." The power of JoJo is a curious thing.