A couple years ago in early 2020, the Philadelphia 76ers hosted Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls. The team was 32-21, solid but a bit disappointing. They won the game but the team played uninspired ball. They drew some boos from the home crowd. And when Joel stepped his game up and put Chicago away, he shushed the grumpy hometown fans a few times. Just a few days prior, Embiid had reminded us (though we didn’t need reminding, we could tell) he wasn’t having much fun that season.
Then the following day, there was some noteworthy social media flirtation between Embiid and a familiar face in Jimmy Butler.