Joel Embiid Responds To Fans Who Call Him An A**hole: ‘I Like To Troll A Lot’

There was a time when Joel Embiid loved interviews, and would even have fun, especially in his early days before he played a single NBA game, while recovering from his right foot injury in 2014 and 2015. Nowadays, he’s a bit more careful and shows distrust towards journalists. 

In a recent interview with ESPN, the Philadelphia big man was really able to open up, and even addressed the reasons behind why some section of NBA fans have called him an ‘a**hole’. “I like to troll a lot,” he assured in the comfort of his own home. “I wouldn’t say I’m an a–hole.”

He then thought about it for a second, and conceded a bit. “At times, I can be an a–hole,” Joel admitted. The truth is, this has been a hard year for the Cameroon native, after a rather disappointing 2024-25 campaign in which expectations were high, but poor performances and recurrent injuries dealt a heavy blow.

“I care about how I’m going to be remembered when it comes to basketball, but not as a man,” Embiid expressed, trying to deflect the interview into another subject, instead of talking about his recent displays on the NBA courts. “As a man, you can’t tell me nothing.”

If we take a look at his numbers, we can understand why he doesn’t want to share his thoughts on the past year. After only competing in 19 regular-season matches, with averages of 30.2 minutes per game, he posted 23.8 points (with 44.4% shots from the field), 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Not bad, but underwhelming considering he earned the league MVP crown back in 2023. The 31-year-old was recently selected by Bleacher Report‘s ranking as 66th all-time best NBA player. After his most recent surgery, the 76ers expect their star center to be back better than ever for preseason in October.

These are some of the reasons why he is living a reserved life, trying to stay out of the media. “I’ve never been the one to have a lot of friends,” he told ESPN in confidence. “And even then, with the ones that I consider close, I never try to go deep into anything.”

The veteran also revealed that he comes from a family which wasn’t very expressive, so he’s learned to hide his feelings. “A quiet family. Dad, extremely quiet. Mom, quiet too. … From the moment that I was really young, you could never really open up about anything,” Embiid shared.

For now, he remains in recovery until the Sixers give him permission to gradually return to his basketball activities. “It’s been almost a year and a half since the knee injury he suffered at Golden State derailed him for most of the 2024-25 season, and Daryl Morey says Joel Embiid is ‘on track’ to be healthy for training camp,” insider Tony Jones recently wrote for The Athletic.