Joel Embiid Channeled His Inner LeBron With A Tweet Joking About Being The ‘King Of LA’

Joel Embiid had quite the three-day stretch in Los Angeles, as the 76ers’ young star had a combined 78 points, 31 rebounds, and nine assists in two Philadelphia wins over the Clippers and Lakers on their L.A. trip.

While his Monday performance against the Clippers was impressive, his 46/15/7/7 stat line in 34 minutes against the Lakers was otherworldly, and opened everyone’s eyes to what he can be when healthy and able to play a full game. After dominating twice at Staples Center, there were some on Twitter calling for Embiid to take a victory lap on social media, like LeBron James did after proclaiming himself the “King of NY” following the Cavs’ comeback win in the Garden earlier in the week.

Embiid instead trolled LaVar Ball with his Instagram post and location on Wednesday night, but on Thursday he obliged the people with a Twitter post jokingly copying LeBron’s format (and also noting he’s not being serious and it’s all in fun).

While LeBron James uses social media as effectively as any player in the league at creating stories and driving a narrative, no player in the NBA is more entertaining on social than Embiid. He gets it, because he’s part of the generation that grew up with it and knows what the people want (like 69 jokes in his postgame interview). It also doesn’t hurt that he’s great at basketball and can back up his jokes and trash talk with what he does on the floor.