Michael Jordan may remain the NBA’s greatest player of all time in real life, but no one can challenge Joel Embiid’s supremacy on Twitter.
The Philadelphia 76ers rookie big man only cemented his vise grip on his social media crown Thursday, when he created a fake manual retweet of President-elect Donald Trump in a bid to earn more All-Star votes:
The ingenious ploy netted him 13,500 retweets and counting (at the time of publication), once again proving Twitter is Joel Embiid’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Why is the 22-year-old so thirsty for an All-Star berth? He alluded to his true motivation on Dec. 28:
During a postgame interview with CSN Philly sideline reporter Molly Sullivan two days later, he echoed what’s really fueling him:
Who is the mystery source of Embiid’s affection? According to TMZ, it’s none other than pop singer Rihanna, who Embiid has been lusting after for years.
As SB Nation’s Seth Rosenthal noted at the time Embiid’s crush first went public, Rihanna did follow him back on Twitter and “liked” his “family dinner” tweet, suggesting the interest may not be entirely one-sided. The big fella clearly subscribes to the mantra that you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.
Embiid also has an unlikely ally in his quest to date RiRi—Sixers head coach Brett Brown, according to Philadelphia magazine’s Derek Bodner:
Things are looking up for Embiid’s chances of scoring that ever-elusive date, as he came in fourth in the first returns of Eastern Conference frontcourt voting, trailing only LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Love:
Could sparks fly between the two if Embiid does make it into the All-Star Game? There’s only one way to find out: tweet #NBAVote Joel Embiid every day between now and Jan. 16, the date when voting closes.