In this episode of The Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green interviews Philadelphia 76ers star Joel "Troel" Embiid about his approach to social‑media trolling and on‑court trash talk. Embiid explains that his online jabs are never meant to be personal; they’re a form of entertainment and a way to hype himself and his opponents. He recounts specific incidents—posting a meme about Andre Drummond’s signing, a heated exchange with Blake Griffin, and a bench‑side taunt from Paul Pierce—illustrating how he draws a line between playful banter and genuine disrespect. Embiid also reflects on how trolling can affect team dynamics, fan engagement, and his own performance, noting that he uses it to keep opponents on edge without harboring real animosity. Draymond parallels his own trash‑talk style, emphasizing that both view it as a game‑side mental tool rather than a personal vendetta.
Chapters
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. And you even mentioned it yourself, you were going crazy on Twitter. Like crazy. And one of the things that you did to me that stood out the most, and like you were one of my favorite followers when you were going ape shit on Twitter and Instagram. And one of the things that I absolutely loved that you did was when you would do the location.
Yeah.
And the location was whoever you had just dropped off that night.
Yeah.
And one that really stood out to me, 'cause people look at the NBA today and they tend to forget like how stuff has turned over. And at that time, Andre Drummond was a starting center in NBA. He was an all-star center in NBA. Y'all were in the same conference and you're just now starting to make your name.
Yeah.
And you put Andre Drummond's head, and then your caption was like, "I own real estate in your head for free," or something like that you said. And I'm like, "Yo, this dude is out of his mind." And then that kind of started this beef amongst you and Andre Drummond.
But by the way—
I must say.
By the way, it wasn't a beef. I was always, you know, we were on the same team and all that stuff. But I always kicked his ass. Like he never had any chance. Like, never had any chance.
So check this though. When he decided that he was gonna come to y'all team, I was kinda like, huh? And then I saw the video. Then I saw the video of him arriving at the, arena at the facility once he signed, and you kind of turned and shook him up and kind of went back towards— And I was just thinking to myself, like, what is going through his head right now? Is he really feeling like, I own this man right now? Like, you just came to back me up. What was going through your— I have to know. I need to know what was going through your head when he decided he was going to sign with y'all. I mean, the reality is it helped his career because he's revitalized his career. And backing you up and now going to Brooklyn and he's playing incredible basketball in Brooklyn. So it worked, but what were you thinking?
Well, I'll say this thing. So I think most of the time, like, you know, I talk trash or in the past when I used to like really go at it with, you know, anybody, whether it was Whiteside or Drummond or whoever, you know, to me, like, It has never been serious to the point where like, I don't hate anybody. I'm doing this for fun. If people get their feelings hurt, that is on them. That has nothing to do with me. Anything that I say and anything that I do, I literally, I'm not kidding. So let's say whenever I'm about to send a tweet, before I even send the tweet, in my kitchen or my living room just dying because I know that people are gonna go crazy. Whether they're gonna take it seriously or whether they're gonna think that it's funny, I'm already so done. And then when I send the tweet, I'm like, yo, I'm like crying because I'm like, that's what people love or whatever. But at that time, like, I was like, when he signed with us, I was happy because I'm like, yo, like, when you look at—
Yeah.
You know, the previous years, like, you know, every single time that I went off the floor, we always lost leads. You look at Game 7 against Toronto when we lost that series. I played, you know, 40— what, 46 minutes? 46 minutes. We were, what, +3 or whatever when I was on the floor, and then in the 2 minutes that I sat, we were -10. So like, to me, in my mind, I was like, when we signed him, I was like, I just need like a competing, like someone who's not gonna come off the— who's not gonna come on the floor and just lose leads. So I was like, you know, it fits, you know, what we need. And, you know, I was fine with it. But, you know, if you look at that, if you're looking at the video that you were talking about, it was really nothing. I was just, you know, walking out. I was lifting, doing my thing. And I greeted him. I said, you know, welcome to Philly. But then again, you know, in my mind, I could never forget, you know, the old days, you know, when I used to go out there. I remember posting that video of him dancing after I gave him like— That was after the game. So about that story. So we go, before that game, we go to Detroit. I had like, we lost that game, but I had like 30 and 10. And then he ended up getting ejected or whatever. But after the game, he was talking crazy. He's like, That man, he's out of shape. He can't run. I'm like, what are you talking about, bro? No, you just won, but I just had 30 on you and I'm out of shape? Watch what I'm about to do to you. So I'm like, the next meeting was a couple weeks later. I'm like, you don't know what's coming. So in that next meeting, I had like 32 in the first half. I was going at him. He was in foul trouble. I was going. I was like, bro, I had 32 in the first half. I was like killing them. We was up by a lot and all that stuff. That's why I remember you texted me after the video that I posted. You were like, "Yo, you crazy." Crazy, yo. That's what I do. Like, I had a location, like, crazy. Like, you know, like, I own a lot of real estate and all that stuff. But that's me. Like, for me, it's fun. Like, he's never—
Absolutely.
He's never, like, serious where to the point where I'm like, "I hate this man. Like, I don't want to be around this man." Like, I'm like, I can go I never take it personal. Like, I'm like, bro, he stays on the court and that's it. After we get off the court, if you wanna, you know, talk to me or whatever, unless you say something disrespectful to me, other than that, like, I will never be disrespectful to anybody, whether it's, you know, going overboard and all that stuff. So I know where to draw the line. But other than that, like, it's funny to me. Like, I just go with the vibe, man. I just love it. Yeah.
That's incredible, man. I appreciate that about you, 'cause I'm the same way. I talk a bunch of junk. It's never personal.
You're not, you're not. When playing basketball. It was personal when you were talking to Paul Pierce. That was personal.
Nah, that actually was like right off the top of the dome, man. 'Cause I'm gonna tell you what happened. I'm gonna tell you what happened with that. So we're playing, and at that time, Doc is obviously, With the Clippers.
Yeah.
And we're playing and, you know, for us coming up, like, you know, the NBA go in waves. So the Clippers, when we were really young, the Clippers was supposed to be the next team out the West. You know, like they were the next young guys coming. And we like, hold on, we don't really believe in them. We got something to say about this. And so it kind of, you know, this rivalry started budding against two young teams, us against them, Steph against CP. And like at that time Blake is the guy, you know, like Blake is like, they trying, they hyping Blake.
Yeah, he's the next face of the league.
Exactly. And I'm like, I'm clamping that, like I ain't feeling that. And so then, you know, me and Blake had our situations. We had one where, We at half court, he grabbed my side, I elbowed him in the throat, I get kicked out the game. He go back in the game, Bogie got him a second tech, he got kicked out. And like all of this stuff keep happening every time we played them, right?
Yeah.
And so then Pierce come over to the team towards the end of his career, last 2 years I think, or whatever it was. And now me and Blake Griffin already got a thing, like it's a thing.
Yeah.
And Pierce yells from the bench, "Go at him, BG. He too little. Go at him, BG. Too little. He can't guard you." And so I'm like, "Fuck outta here. Go back down the court, whatever." We come back down, they go at me again. "Go at him, BG. He can't guard you. Too small." So now I'm like, "Amph," right? And he like shot fake. I go flying trying to beat the shit and I fouled him. Number one, why am I going for a Blake Griffin pump fake? Blake shoot the ball now. But at that time Blake wasn't shooting the ball like that. That's why I'm like, why am I even going for a Blake? So now I'm fuming 'cause I just picked up a foul on a pump fake I had no business going for. And I really went for this pump fake because you over there talking and like I'm trying to beat this shot so I can say something to you. And I fouled and I got really pissed. Like, wow, you just made me foul him. So I'm walking back to the bench and he, I mean, I'm walking to the free throw line and he like, yeah, BG, I told you he can't guard you. And I'm like, all right, bro, I had enough. And that's why I'm like, hey bro, you chasing this farewell tour. Like, you not Kobe. Like, why are you doing this? If you retiring, if you retiring, go home. Like. I'm sorry. Ain't nobody doing no farewell tour for you and like making this whole— Kobe different bruh! Like that's Kobe!
