Sophia Michaels
Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers had the night off on Wednesday, which meant the All-Star big man had some time to spend on social media. Earlier in the evening, Embiid’s name popped up in headlines thanks to a woeful attempt by a Jeopardy! contestant to come up with his nickname, The Process, when prompted.
The contestant, who ultimately went on to win the episode, guessed “Do A 180,” which is an objectively awful nickname and a hysterical shot in the dark. Plenty around the NBA had a laugh about it, because there’s few things more gratifying as a sports fan than seeing someone objectively smarter than you have no clue about something you know so readily. Among those who found it funny was Joel Embiid, who changed his Twitter name to “Joel ‘Do A 180’ Embiid???” and tripled down on Instagram, insisting that’s what he’s to be called from now on.
He then dug into the archives to find some video of a high school aged Joel and the moment that he could’ve earned himself such a nickname when he terribly misjudged where he was on the court on a fastbreak, jumping behind the backboard, and having to Do A 180 to throw the ball back into play.
While there are times where Embiid gets himself into some trouble with Philly fans on social media — like his recent back-and-forth with Jimmy Butler about being a villain — this is an example of why no one in the NBA is quite as good at the medium as him. To remember this happened and be able to go pull the vid is incredible, and there’s a good chance now that “Do A 180” sticks for a bit — I’d wager a 180 reverse dunk is coming very soon from the big fella in a game just to keep the bit alive.
Written by: Uproxx
