Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid has firmly established himself as Public Enemy No. 1 among the New York Knicks faithful. On Tuesday, a banged-up Embiid helped his team pull off a miracle win in Madison Square Garden to keep their season alive.
After their stunning 112-106 overtime victory, Embiid had nothing but love for Knicks fans.
Philadelphia 76ers News: Joel Embiid Shouts Out Knicks Fans
During his post-game interview, Embiid was asked to share his thoughts on playing the villain role against a very hostile fanbase. The Sixers superstar had a rather unexpected response as he heaped praise on the city of New York:
“It’s not hostile, I love New York. New York is my favorite city in the world,” he said. “I have a place here for the past five years, so I just love New York.
Embiid finished Tuesday’s win with 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. He was, of course, bombarded by the usual ‘F–k Embiid’ chants from the capacity MSG crowd throughout the evening. Apparently, the Sixers big man doesn’t mind this at all. It’s quite the contrary, actually:
“The fans, when you play against a team, they’re always gonna pick that guy,” he said. “They picked me, which is fine. I love it. I gotta be the punching bag. You hear a lot of ‘F Embiid.’ That’s okay. I love it.
“… It usually gets me going in those situations because you want to put yourself in those situations to kinda shut them up.”
Embiid ended by showing even more love to the rabid Knicks fanbase:
“They’ve been doing a great job just supporting their team,” Embiid continued. “They’ve been amazing. … They get hyped about everything. They’ve been doing a fantastic job.”
"I love New York. New York is my favorite city in the world."
Joel Embiid was asked about playing the "villain" in this series: pic.twitter.com/7XIYeqGkW4
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 1, 2024
It’s great to hear this type of praise from Embiid, but I’m just not sure if this will help endear him to Knicks fans. Probably not at all.
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