Joel Embiid and Hassan Whiteside engaged in an amusing social media flame-war Friday night, but Whiteside says it was all in good fun.

Embiid triggered the back-and-forth by mocking Whiteside for picking up three quick fouls in their preseason battle.

Whiteside says that Embiid knows he’s not soft.

Video: Hassan Whiteside says it's all in good fun with Joel Embiid. https://t.co/7vuBlQ2DUh … Or is it? — Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) October 15, 2017

Per the Sun-Sentinel:

“It’s funny to me,” Whiteside said after practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I’m going to talk trash back if somebody talks trash to me. Maybe when I was younger, I would have been a little more angrier, It would have been a little madder. “But, you know, that’s the kind of guy he is. He makes joke. He’s a good player, so it’s all fun to me. I can go all day with it.” Whiteside said it is nothing more than respect between what Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called “titans” of the game. “Ever since last year, my very first words to Embiid was, ‘Man, I’m glad to see you back on the court.'” said Whiteside, with Embiid’s NBA debut delayed by a foot issue, one Whiteside playfully cited amid their Friday late-night Twitter exchange. “He told me we’re going to bring the center position back. And after they won, he called me, ‘barbeque chicken,’ so I was waiting to get back at him.”

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