OAKLAND – Thursday night the Golden State Warriors return home for the first time in two weeks to play host to the Philadelphia 76ers. The game itself should be entertaining, but the game within the game might be the main event of the evening.
Draymond Green’s propensity for trash talk is well documented, but Philadelphia’s young All-Pro center Joel Embiid holds his own weight in that regard.
Embiid got the chance to get a jump on the verbal sparring a night early when he dined with Stephen Curry at International Smoke, Ayesha Curry’s restaurant, in downtown San Francisco.
Steph Curry and Joel Embiid dine together at Ayesha Curry’s restaurant International Smoke in SF ahead of the Warriors/Sixers game today. pic.twitter.com/2gECbHq6Kt
— TheWarriorsTalk (@TheWarriorsTalk) January 31, 2019
Thursday morning a reporter asked Curry if Embiid had anything to say to his host ahead of the game.
“Nah,” Curry said with a grin. “You can’t trash talk the host of the dinner.”
The two stars are both signed to Under Armour contracts, so it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that they dined before Thursday’s game.
Curry went on to explain how the increased amount of cameras, microphones, and attention on the court have changed the way people can smack talk during NBA games.
“There’s a little sensitivity now with how many, honestly probably how many cameras are around (and) what you can get away with saying on the court,” Curry said. “But the guys that enjoy it, the guys that can keep it at a place where they keep it on the floor – those are entertaining games for sure.”
Embiid and his 76ers will tip against the reigning champs at 7:30 p.m. on TNT’s late game Thursday night.