Joel Embiid and Hassan Whiteside aren't meant to be friends.
Last season, an apparent rivalry started brewing when Whiteside implied that Embiid shouldn't be getting All-Star consideration, and Embiid fired back (see story).
The two centers were back at it again during and after Friday night's preseason finale.
After drawing three fouls early in the first quarter on the Heat big man, Embiid made sure to tell the Miami bench to get Whiteside out of the game (see video).
And though Embiid, who sat out the second half, only scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds in 15 minutes of a 119-95 Sixers' win (see observations), he was still in a trash-talking mood after the game.
First, Whiteside responded to a fan who called out Embiid's subpar shooting numbers (1 for 7).
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The media won't show that 😂🤷🏽♂️— Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
Then Embiid, as he tends to do, went on the attack.
Dude they had to take your ass out or you would've fouled out in 5 min... And we're talking about Preseason, not regular season..... #Softy https://t.co/IAIBDDypFK— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
Still boiling, Embiid then fired off another tweet, again using #Softy to describe the 7-foot, 265-pound Whiteside.
And keep caring about stats and not your team success..... your +/- was ass @youngwhiteside #Softy— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
For the record, Whiteside's plus/minus was minus-9. Embiid's was plus-13.
Embiid then wrapped up his trash-talking storm with a likely dig at Kevin Durant and, of course, a shoutout to "the process."
My bad y'all , I thought I was using my burner account #TheProcess— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
Whiteside thought he had the final word with one last tweet.
@JoelEmbiid 31 games in 3yrs Hopefully I get to see you regular season🤷🏽♂️😂🤷🏽♂️😂 #SolarEclipse #EmbiidEclipse https://t.co/iaFfK3h3V6— Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
Until Embiid ended things with a special description of his location on Instagram.
Maeanwhile, Ben Simmons seemed amused by the whole ordeal just like the rest of us.
😂😂😂😂😂😂💀— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) October 14, 2017
Former Sixer Andre Iguodala also enjoyed the banter, with a nod to Embiid.
Da kid @JoelEmbiid is a God!!!— Andre Iguodala (@andre) October 14, 2017
It's going to be a lot of fun to watch two of the best young centers in the NBA battle, both on the court and online, over the next decade-plus. Too bad we have to wait until Feb. 2 to see them share the floor again.