Joel Embiid was named an All-Star Game starter on Thursday, and he backed that up with a dominant performance in the Sixers’ 89-80 win over the Celtics. Embiid posted 26 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists, but his biggest moment came after the game concluded.

In his postgame interview, TNT sideline reporter Kristen Ledlow asked Embiid if there was anything he wanted to say to a certain pop star, and we all knew she meant Rihanna.

Last year, when Embiid campaigned incessantly for All-Star votes as a rookie, he admitted he wanted the honor because his celebrity crush told him she wouldn’t be interested until he reached All-Star status. According to TMZ, the crush in question was Rihanna.

Embiid apparently has a strong sense of self-worth and decided he’s over the Barbadian pop star.

“She denied me back then, so why go with her again? So ummm, I have to pass on her and move on to the next one.”

Sixers fans are providing some backup by spamming Rihanna’s Instagram.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s Embiid bludgeoning the Celtics on the court as the Sixers kept pace with the Pistons for the No. 8 seed in the East.

Meanwhile, the Celtics had a rough night, scoring just 32 points in the first half and barely cracking 40% shooting for the game. Brad Stevens’ interview after the third quarter summed up their struggles nice and succinctly.

The Celtics now hold a 2.5-game lead on the Raptors atop the Eastern Conference.

[TNT]

About Jesse Kramer

Jesse is a writer and editor for The Comeback. He has also worked for SI.com and runs The Catch and Shoot, a college basketball website based in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow Jesse on Twitter @Jesse_Kramer.