NBA superstars are just like the rest of us. Just ask Joel Embiid. He loves to debate who the best players are, even though he is absolutely one of them.
Embiid caught up with his former teammate JJ Redick — who played alongside the dominant big man in Philadelphia for two years — on the latter’s Old Man and the Three podcast. Redick was having what felt like an innocuous conversation about hoops, casually mentioning in the conversation that he feels Embiid and Kevin Durant are two of the three best players in the world.
The comment was well-intended, but Embiid wouldn’t let Redick say it without first unpacking it. The MVP candidate wanted to know who else Redick felt was in this club.
However, he wasn’t feeling Redick’s answer. You can watch it all unfold in this hilarious clip, via HoopsHype’s Dionysis Aravantinos:
After a bit of pressing, Redick finally admitted that he thinks the reigning NBA MVP (and deserved frontrunner to win again) Nikola Jokic is also one of the three best players in the world.
Embiid was flustered when he realized that meant Redick was then snubbing Giannis Antetokounmpo. His reaction was endearing, earnest, and priceless.
The moment where he says, “Where’s Giannis?!” is one that I’m going to start thinking about all of the time.
Embiid couldn’t believe that Redick would exclude Antetokounmpo even though the Bucks superstar is the reigning NBA Finals MVP and a two-time NBA MVP winner.
Watch his face as he begins to process this seemingly insane information:
Embiid went on to say that Redick was disrespectful, and then everyone shared a good laugh.
It was awesome to see Embiid join Redick’s show as a guest, then completely take over the vibe. Next time I’m making a list of the three best players on the planet, if Embiid is nearby, I know that I’m including Giannis.
With the way Antetokounmpo is playing of late, as noted by our own Mike Sykes, it’s getting harder and harder to exclude him — especially if you’re a fan of Antetokounmpo’s dad jokes.
