Philadelphia center Joel Embiid fired the first shot in the brewing NBA rivalry between the 76ers’ No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz and Los Angeles Lakers No. 2 selection Lonzo Ball. In a reply to Ben Simmons’ “Crazy Pills” tweet, obviously referring to Lonzo’s father LaVar, Embiid tweeted, “Please dunk on him so hard that his daddy runs on the court to save him.”

Earlier, the 76ers traded up to No. 1 to pick Fultz, while the Lakers stuck with their original plan to take Ball despite the outrageous pronouncements from his father that put him under close scrutiny.

In the 80s, the Lakers and the 76ers had one of the NBA’s most memorable rivalries between Magic Johnson and Julius Erving. The 76ers defeated the Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals via sweep, avenging their loss to Los Angeles in the previous title series.

Originally, Fultz was expected to be selected by the Boston Celtics with the No. 1 overall pick. However, Boston decided to trade down to No. 3 to get an additional first-round pick, paving the way for the 76ers to select Fultz.

Fans dub new Sixers frontline 'FEDS'

Embiid welcomed Fultz to the squad after he was drafted first overall Thursday. After that, the center revealed that some fans have given the Sixers new frontline a nickname “FEDS” or Fultz, Embiid, Dario, Simmons.

The FEDS will now carry the burden of giving the Sixers their first winning season since the 2004-05 season. Last season, the Sixers finished with a 28-54 mark.

Embiid was drafted third overall by the 76ers in 2014 but missed the first two years of his professional career due to injury. Last season, he suited up for 31 games but provided the league a glimpse of what he can do when fully healthy, averaging 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.

Simmons was the top overall pick last season but did not play due to a broken foot. The 76ers have a reason to be excited since Simmons is dubbed as the second coming of LeBron James in terms of style as an all-around player. Saric, for his part, averaged 12.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 81 games last season.

Fultz overwhelmed by top selection

After his name was called by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Fultz said: “When I heard my name called ... it was like God calling me.” Considered as the best point guard in the 2017 Draft, Fultz led all freshmen in scoring with 23.2 points on top of 5.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 25 games. However, Washington finished with a 9-22 record.
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