As Embiid and Towns take to social media, NBA deals with issues

While most people were sleeping, Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid shifted the venue for the fight that began on the floor in Philadelphia’s 117-95 victory over the Timberwolves. The next logical place to continue it? Social media.

It began with Embiid firing the first shot at Towns, bragging on Twitter and making light of Towns’ nickname: Embiid wrote he “was raised around lions and a cat pulled on me tonight …”

As can happen in the NBA, fans, media and fellow players alike ate up the back and forth, judging who lobbed the strongest grenade. The league’s social media appeal is one of the reasons why the game is so popular and the envy of other leagues who want cash in.

But while it can be entertaining, there’s a downside to what happened that puts the league in an awkward position.

Last season, Commissioner Adam Silver said a lot of players are struggling with mental health issues brought on, in part, by the social media presence the league has. They open any social media app and they can see all the nasty things being said about them.

Some may just brush off the random comments as they should, but it can be harder for some to let it go. Vulgar insults can affect self-confidence and self-worth. What happened early Thursday morning does nothing to combat this type of behavior. In fact, it could encourage more toxicity. Why should random people stop trolling the players and spewing their vitriol all over the internet when the players themselves are doing it to each other?

This is an issue the league will need to face if it is serious about combating mental health issues.