How the Joel Embiid vs Andre Drummond Beef Went Down

Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond are two talented centers, both with their own issues and warts that prevent them from being put in the all-world category.

For Embiid, who’s a likely All-Star, staying healthy is his only concern during this early season dominance. Drummond, for his part, is a great athlete and terrific rebounder, but rivals Shaquille O’Neal in free throw shooting madness.

“No disrespect, but he can’t shoot," Embiid said.

"So, you know, I just gotta worry about the defensive coverages that we have. As you’ve seen they run a lot of down screens, backside action, and he’s always the roller so he gets a lot of lobs and stuff, so as a team we gotta make sure that don’t happen often, and make sure we close out on shooters too.”

Joel Embiid on Andre Drummond and why he's not worried about him.

You know someone is about to be disrespected when they start with, "No disrespect but..." #Sixers. pic.twitter.com/rAbvjglS81
— Marshall Harris (@mharrisNBCS) December 2, 2017

Drummond, who is here for the back-and-forth, responded the way everyone else does, questioning whether “The Process” is durable enough to talk his talk.

“I mean you can’t really have a conversation with a man who can’t play a back-to-back. I’ve been playing for six years and I’ve missed maybe 4-5 games. So when he can play a whole season without taking a rest, he can come talk to me.”

In response to Embiid, Drummond told me, "I mean you can't really have a conversation with a man who can't play a back-to-back... I've been playing for six years and I've missed maybe 4-5 games. So when he can play a whole season without taking a rest, he can come talk to me."
— Johnny Kane (@JohnnyKaneFSD) December 2, 2017

See you Dec 2nd😏
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) October 24, 2017

In Drummond’s defense, he’s only missed three games since the start of the 2013-14 season. Before Saturday night's showdown, Drummond was averaging 14.3 points, an NBA-leading 15.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game.

Embiid was averaging 22.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game on 49.3 percent shooting from the field.

On Saturday night, the 76ers ended up beating the Pistons, 108-103. Embiid had 25 points and 10 rebounds. He also fouled out Drummond, who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.