New York is unforgiving, ask Joel Embiid .
In the hours leading up to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference playoffs between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers , with the latter down 3-1 in the series, a front page consisting of Embiid and various photos of him doing seemingly "dirty" plays against the Knicks was shared. It had the headline "The most hated man in NY". After that initial post began to make its way around X, the state of New York's official X account joined in.
The account reposted the image and paired it with a short clip from rap megastar Kendrick Lamar's recent diss track, "Euphoria", released the same day and aimed at fellow star Drake. "Let me say I'm the biggest hater. I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk. I hate the way that you dress, I hate the way that you sneak diss. If I catch flight, it's gon be direct," the clip said .
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Almost immediately, the state of New York's X post took off, with more than 15,000 likes as of writing. So random and effective was the post that fans couldn't help but give props to whoever decided to pair Lamar's newest diss track with the original photo that dissed Embiid.
"Embiid just got cooked by a whole state," one user wrote, with a crying emoji. Another user pondered - to their enjoyment - what the thought process was that went into using the song as a way to diss Embiid, all while using the official X account.
"Somebody who works for the New York federal government went on lunch break to listen to 'Euphoria' and then tweet this and I'm just laughing," the user said. Of note, "Euphoria" is the latest chapter in the ongoing rap feud between Lamar and Drake, despite the two seemingly being on good terms and even collaborating on many tracks throughout the years.
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The two artists' relationship appeared to have soured in 2023 when Drake collaborated with J. Cole on "First Person Shooter". In the song, Cole implies he, Drake and Lamar are the cream of the crop when it comes to rap music, though the Los Angeles native took exception to the lyrics.
During a feature on Future and Metro Boomin's track "Like That" which was released in March 2024, Lamar went straight for both Drake and Cole, stating that there is no "Big Three" between him, Drake and Cole; He stood above both men. In mid-April, Drake released "Push Ups," his rebuttal to Lamar's diss track, which made fun of the latter's height and foot size, along with verbal jabs at Rick Ross, The Weeknd, Metro Boomin and Future, among others.
To add more insult, Drake released "Taylor Made Freestyle," another track aimed at Lamar by using A.I. versions of Tupac and Snoop Dogg, expressing his disappointment that Lamar had yet to release a response, though the Canadian star eventually took the track down after Tupac's estate threatened to sue him. Then, it was Lamar's turn, which led to him releasing "Euphoria," a six-minute, no-holds-barred track aimed at Drake and Cole.
The track took social media by storm, with hip-hop fans lauding Lamar's unfiltered takedown of the Canadian rap star. Considering Embiid's history with the Knicks, it stands to reason why pairing Lamar's lyrics with the aforementioned photo made sense.
After Philadelphia's Game 4 loss, Embiid made it clear he was not happy with how New York's fans overtook the Wells Fargo Center. "I love our fans, think it's unfortunate," Embiid said to reporters after the loss. "I'm not calling them out, but it is disappointing. Obviously, you got a lot of Knicks fans and they're down the road and I've never seen it, and I've been here for 10 years.
"Yeah, it kinda p***** me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. So they're always showing up and I don't think that should happen. Yeah, it's not OK."
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