Deandre Ayton clowns Joel Embiid with new Panini America basketball card

The summer beef between Phoenix Suns future Hall of Famer Deandre Ayton and Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid now has pictures to go with the words.

Ayton designed a “sketch card” for Panini America, and drew himself dunking over a player wearing a #21 jersey with the letters “PHI” across the front. I know, I thought the same thing. Why would the Suns rookie go out of his way to fire a shot at World B. Free before he’s even played in an NBA game? That’s a peculiar move. But no, it appears Embiid is the target of Ayton’s artistic expression.

Embiid, who by many accounts does a good job using the Twitter application, constructed a clever response.

The origins of what will hopefully be a spirited rivalry between Philadelphia’s capable front court piece and Phoenix’s future Ring of Honor inductee dates back to draft night. On June 21st Embiid took offense to being compared to the probable 2019 Rookie of the Year.

We won’t have to wait long to see the two start to figure this out on the court. The Sixers host the Suns November 19. Philly makes the trip to Phoenix January 2nd.