Account
Montrezl Harrell to 76ers' Joel Embiid After Altercation: 'Stand on Your Toughness'
December 27, 2021
After being ejected from Sunday's 117-96 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers following two technical fouls due to an altercation with Joel Embiid, Washington Wizards big man Montrezl Harrell had some choice words for the Philly big man.
"Stand on your toughness, bro," Harrell said after the game. "If you're so tough and you're so, you know, stand on that, my dude."
NBC Sports Wizards @NBCSWizards.<a href="https://twitter.com/MONSTATREZZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MONSTATREZZ</a> doesn't back down to anyone 😤 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCAboveAll?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DCAboveAll</a> <a href="https://t.co/qoPzpwbRIE">pic.twitter.com/qoPzpwbRIE</a>
Late in the third quarter, with the Sixers leading 80-64, Embiid and Harrell got into a skirmish and had to be separated. Embiid caught a pass from Georges Niang and bumped Harrell to the ground. Harrell then got up and fouled Embiid hard as he went in for a basket before the two grabbed each other's shoulders. They were pulled apart by teammates.
In regard to Harrell's second technical foul, which forced his ejection, Embiid told reporters after the game that he essentially taunted him into it.
"I wouldn't say I baited him into that (second tech) but I like to think that I'm a troll," Embiid said. "I like to think I kind of made him get out of his comfort zone, and that got him kicked out."
Embiid added: "Basketball is also mental. You got to be able to get in your opposition's heads, and that's what I did."
Embiid got the last laugh, too, as he finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Harrell had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists before being tossed from the game.
Despite Sunday's ejection, Harrell is having an impressive season for the Wizards. He entered having averaged 14.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 64.7 percent from the floor in 32 games. He'll likely be nominated for the Sixth Man of the Year award, though there's still plenty of time left in the season.
The Wizards haven't beaten the Sixers since December 2019, so things were bound to get heated between the two sides. However, Harrell was a member of the Los Angeles Clippers at the time and didn't join the Wizards until an offseason trade from the Los Angeles Lakers.