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Joel Embiid on trashing LaVar Ball: 'Just something I had to do'

"It's just something I had to do because everybody else had been thinking about it."

Joel Embiid said he didn’t feel too badly about sharing a profane video directed at LaVar Ball.
Joel Embiid said he didn’t feel too badly about sharing a profane video directed at LaVar Ball.Read moreAP File Photos
    by Rob Tornoe
    Published 

Joel Embiid was hit with a $10,000 fine last week for trashing LaVar Ball in a profane Instagram video. But to hear Embiid tell it, it was something that had to be done.

"I think most people have been wanting to say that, but I guess I was the guy to say that. I'm glad I said it," Embiid said during a keynote conversation at the Variety Sports & Entertainment Summit on Thursday. "Social media is just about having fun."

Having fun is one thing, but profanity is something else, noted Jessica Holtz, his Creative Artists Agency agent who was also a member of the panel. Holtz suggested that next time, Embiid should ease up on the curse words.

"We got to chill a little on the curse words," Embiid acknowledged. "It's just something I had to do because everybody else had been thinking about it."

The bad blood between Embiid and LaVar Ball began during the NBA draft, when the Sixers big man urged teammate Ben Simmons to dunk on LaVar's son, Lakers rookie and former UCLA standout Lonzo Ball.

Embiid's tweet almost immediately went viral, and has been retweeted more than 53,000 times. When asked about Embiid's harsh comments on a conference call with Los Angeles reporters, Lonzo Ball simply responded, "That's funny."

LaVar wasn't so diplomatic. During an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic, he tore into the Sixers big man over his injury-prone career and inability to stay on the court.

"When you don't win, and don't even make the playoffs, and don't even stay on the court long enough, that's the best thing you can do – is tweet and make some stuff," LaVar Ball said. "Ain't nobody else doing that, because they're working on their games in the gym. These guys ain't played a game, [are] always hurt, and [are] at the bottom of the totem pole. So guess what? Get your [rear ends] off the [damn] Tweeter, and get in the gym."

LaVar Ball also responded to Embiid's profane Instagram video, noting, "The reason he said that … his vocabulary is limited."

"He's not intelligent at all. He's worried about me? He should be worrying about playing," LaVar told TMZ before dropping the perfect quote.

"I got three words for him: Can't. Play. At. All. Oh shoot, that's four."