Joel Embiid Jokes the Sixers Should Build Around Tony Bradley

The Philadelphia 76ers entered Thursday night's game against the Chicago Bulls shorthanded. After the team's two All-Stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, came in close contact with somebody who contracted COVID-19 last week, the team lost the two stars to the NBA's health and safety protocol for the week.

Considering Simmons and Embiid had to quarantine for at least seven days, both were ruled as ineligible to play in Thursday's matchup with the Bulls. So, instead of traveling to Chicago to practice, play, and spend time with his team, Embiid had to spend Thursday night at home watching the matchup on television just like everybody else.

As you can expect, Embiid had some fun with it. Although he's not on social media as frequently as he used to be, the well-known troll tends to jump online every now and then to give fans something to have fun with. Typically, Embiid likes to issue Sixers fans a scare or get them riled up about something -- but on Thursday, he praised one of his backups in a joking manner.

Tony Bradley, who's normally the backup to Dwight Howard, got the start on Thursday night with Embiid out. Earlier this season, Bradley would play second-string to Dwight Howard when Embiid sat, but Sixers head coach Doc Rivers wanted to go in a different direction when the All-Star misses games.

So, as expected, Bradley started against the Bulls, and he didn't disappoint. In the first quarter, the young veteran drained all four of his shot attempts and collected eight points in eight minutes. In the second quarter, he went 2-for-2 from the field for four points in a little over five minutes.

Embiid, the MVP candidate who was tuned into the matchup, decided to have some fun with Bradley's early success against Chicago and tweeted out that he thinks the Sixers should look into building around the 23-year-old big man instead of himself.

That’s it!!! I’ve seen enough. Build around Tony Bradley @sixers
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) March 12, 2021

All jokes aside, Bradley did look better than ever for the Sixers on Thursday night. Earlier in the year, the reserve struggled a bit during the limited playing time he would receive. But on Thursday, he was practically perfect as he drained all seven of his shots for 14 points and also collected five rebounds, and blocked three shots.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.