Joel Embiid: ‘I Think I Kind of Represent Twitter in the NBA'

CAMDEN, N.J. - When Joel Embiid joined Twitter in November of 2011, he couldn't imagine the impact he would have on social media six years later.

Now in 2017, Embiid has accumulated 522,000 followers, a number that is growing during his active All-Star voting campaign. The 22-year-old has become a pro at packing so much of his immeasurable personality into just 140 characters.

"I think I kind of represent Twitter in the NBA," Embiid said after shootaround Friday. "I like to think all the Twitter people, I represent them. But I never thought I would have this type of influence. I'm just trying to be me. If people enjoy it, that's great."

Embiid said he finds all of his tweets entertaining. Once he commits to an idea, he doesn't turn back. 

"Everything I do on social media is really funny to me. I actually think I [get] the best laugh out of anybody," he said. "One thing I want is to be myself and I never want to change for anybody. I never hit the delete button. If I have something in my mind and I want to say it, I'm just going to say it."

Embiid ranks his social media account high among NBA players, but also points out he doesn't often read what others are posting. He does, though, save photoshopped images that people create of him.

"I don't know, they're all boring," Embiid said with a laugh when asked whose accounts he likes.

"KD (Kevin Durant) used to be good back in the day. I haven't really followed what he's been tweeting. Usually, I don't go through tweets. I don't really go through my timeline so I don't really get to see what anybody else tweets. When I go on Twitter, just to tweet away and laugh at it and leave. I don't really pay attention to it."

Embiid has been receiving an outpour of support with the NBA's new social media voting option for the All-Star Game. On Thursday, WWE icon Triple H tweeted a vote for Embiid which the rookie called "amazing." He ranks his favorite tweets as those involving Kim Kardashian, LeBron James and Rihanna.

"He definitely saw what I was doing, especially two years ago," Embiid said of James. "During the game I was always messing with him, he got a pretty good laugh out of that."

This season Embiid has been making as much of a splash on Twitter as he has on the court. He is going to keep hitting that tweet button as long as he can. 

"In the back of my head I think, ‘This is going to backfire at some point,'" Embiid said. "But before that day comes, I'm going to keep on going. When that day comes, I'm going to stop."