Joel Embiid Calls Out Kevin Durant for Flopping During Nets vs. 76ers: 'Stay Up'

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid took a shot at Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant while discussing their confrontation during a March 10 game.

Embiid and Durant exchanged words after the Sixers star knocked KD to the floor on a first-quarter collision in the low post during the matchup three weeks ago.

"We talk about flopping, I felt like this was a flop. If you're man enough, if you get hit, don't flop. Stay up," Embiid said Thursday on The Old Man and the Three podcast (via AFD's Jonathan Sherman).

The verbal exchange between two of the NBA's biggest names attracted a lot of attention, including from the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, who praised the officiating crew for letting it happen:

Durant and Embiid have been going back and forth for much of the season. KD waved the Sixers off the Barclays Center floor after a Nets win in mid-December, and Embiid returned the favor a couple of weeks later when the 76ers picked up a key road victory.

After that second exchange, both players said there wasn't any bad blood.

"There's a lot of respect," Embiid told reporters. "I always tell people, I think I can do everything on the basketball court, and there's not a lot of guys that are able to do it. If there was one player that I think is probably as talented, or more talented, than me, it's definitely him."

Durant added: "We just respect each other so much that natural competitive fire, I guess, comes out. It's the name of the game and letting them know we're coming with the same energy."

While the regular-season series between the teams is over—Brooklyn won three of the four matchups—it's possible they will meet in the playoffs.

The Sixers (46-29) are third in the Eastern Conference, but just two games separate the top four seeds, leaving plenty of room for movement over the last handful of contests. The Nets (40-36) are likely destined for the play-in tournament as they sit eighth in the East.

Depending on the way things fall over the remaining games, a first-round matchup between the teams is possible.

Given the engagements between Durant and Embiid throughout the season and the star power on both rosters, that series would be must-see TV.