Whiteside: Social media tussle all fun
MIAMI — Battling Joel Embiid in the post is one thing. Battling Embiid on social media? All in good fun, Hassan Whiteside said Sunday.
Two days after the two first went back and forth on the court in the Heat’s exhibition loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in Kansas City, with Embiid gesturing to the Heat bench to remove Whiteside because of Whiteside’s early foul trouble, Whiteside said what ensued on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat was nothing more than playful respect.
“It’s funny to me,” Whiteside said after practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I’m going to talk trash back if somebody talks trash to me. Maybe when I was younger, I would have been a little more angrier, it would have been a little madder.
“But, you know, that’s the kind of guy he is. He makes joke. He’s a good player, so it’s all fun to me. I can go all day with it.”
Whiteside said it is nothing more than respect between what Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called “titans” of the game.
“Ever since last year, my very first words to Embiid was, ‘Man, I’m glad to see you back on the court.’ ” said Whiteside, with Embiid’s NBA debut delayed by a foot issue, one Whiteside playfully cited amid their Friday late-night Twitter exchange. “He told me we’re going to bring the center position back. And after they won, he called me, ‘barbeque chicken,’ so I was waiting to get back at him.”
Whiteside gave Embiid credit for being relentless.
“Embiid, he don’t stop. He don’t stop,” he said. “My first foul, he said I was going to foul out. I said, ‘Man, I’m not playing more than 15 minutes. You really think these fouls is a big deal?’ He don’t stop, man. But he’s like that.
“It’s not him talking about somebody’s family. It’s not nothing crazy. It’s just basketball. He called me softee. Come on, man. He knows that’s not true. I’ll be on his team’s scouting report.”
Whiteside said if social media fuels the rivalry it is a bonus for fans.
“Yeah, man, you know fans love it, man. Fans get into it. I love it, too,” he said. “Because I know the next time we play him, he’s going to give it his all, he’s going to go as hard as he can. And as a competitor, that’s what you want. You want your opponent to play at his maximum speed.”
Spoelstra said it is the intensity he appreciates, never mind the social-media aspect.
“I’m OK with it,” he said. “You’ve got two big titans. This is two competitive guys, two teams that have big aspirations and both teams are putting a lot of responsibility on those big shoulders, those centers, and it’s almost a throwback to yesteryear of this league of two dominant impact players at the center position. I’m all for it.
“The trash talking and all that? Whatever. I don’t care about that. But in terms of two guys wanting to compete against each other, that’s good for the game, that’s good for them, that’s good for both franchises, and you’re not seeing as much of that from that center position anymore.”