Jab at Anthony Davis all part of the allure of Sixers’ Paul Reed, who was ‘keeping it 50 x 2′

Paul Reed received a call from his manager Monday afternoon, alerting him that his shootaround comments about Anthony Davis had gone viral.

His reaction? “Holy [expletive].”

“I started checking Twitter and Instagram,” the 76ers’ reserve big man said, “and I’m like, ‘Damn, people are really mad at me in the Lakers community.’ ”

While self-evaluating that he needed to stay out of early foul trouble during Monday night’s matchup, Reed called Davis “a big flopper” and added, “he’s going to be flailing.” That quote turned out to have more pregame juice than in-game runway. Reed and Davis shared the floor for less than three minutes Monday. And the 138-94 Sixers win was so lopsided that postgame attention appropriately was on Joel Embiid’s first triple-double of the season, Tyrese Maxey’s 31-point outing, and the off-the-bench contributions from Marcus Morris Sr. and Patrick Beverley.

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Still, Reed said following the game that his quote was “just keeping it 50 x 2″ (aka keeping it real). Though he added, “I must have said the wrong thing. … Next time, I’ll word it differently.”

Reed’s personality — and public comments — regularly have been candid and entertaining, which is part of what endears him to the Sixers’ fan base. It complements the “BBall Paul” nickname, the hustle (and sometimes wacky) on-court sequences, and the fact that he will grab a television station’s microphone during interviews.

It’s also not the first time that he has been blunt about facing an All-Star big man.

Last week, he said facing the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns felt like “a boxing match” because “he’s throwing elbows, throwing punches with his off arm.” Before last month’s season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks, Reed shared that the first time he got legitimate minutes against two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, “I was talking crazy to him a little bit. Then he came back and hit me with the shoulder Euro-step dunk. I was like, ‘Let me never talk [smack] … I can never talk trash, again. I have to just hoop.’ ”

But that “smack” originates from simmering confidence, his “out-the-mud” mantra after developing from second-round draft pick to contributor on one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. On Monday night, he totaled nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, three rebounds, and two steals. And his play so far this season has prompted Sixers coach Nick Nurse to say he is looking for more opportunities to play Reed, perhaps even alongside reigning MVP Embiid.

“I feel like I’ve shown that I can be a key piece for us defensively, and offensively just as me finishing at the rim,” Reed said before Monday’s game. “… I understand how difficult it is, how hard it can be trying to put me in the rotation more. For me, it’s just about making decisions easier for [Nurse]. I’ve got to go out there and keep playing hard.”

But when spicy comments are about the Lakers, it is bound to spread rapidly across the internet. In the postgame locker room, Embiid asked a reporter who posted the quote on X (formerly Twitter) if it was fake. When asked if he said anything to Davis during or after the game, Reed said no because “I don’t know him, so it’s nothing personal.”

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After all, they only briefly shared the floor in the first half, during which Davis committed his two turnovers by traveling and losing the ball. Davis scored 10 of his 17 points in the first quarter — primarily while matched up against Embiid. Reed, meanwhile, notched seven points in the final period while playing with a mix of rotation players and deep reserves while the Sixers finished off the blowout victory.

Reed’s quote about Davis was one component of Monday’s wide-ranging pregame media session. He talked about confidently stepping into three-pointers, hoping that “taking the right shots” will lead to more trust from Nurse on the offensive end. He also discussed building chemistry in the two-man game with Maxey when they share the court at the start of the second and fourth quarters. That was on display during a pregame exchange, when Maxey shared he had just been watching film on their tandem.

“You a beast,” Maxey told Reed.

“You make me look good,” Reed responded.

“We make each other look good,” Maxey added. “You my man.”

When Reed’s comments about Davis were brought up during Nurse’s pregame news conference, the coach was visibly surprised and said, “I’m going to go have to talk with Paul about that immediately after this.” Then when Lakers coach Darvin Ham was asked about them minutes later, he said “[Reed’s] got to go guard him, I guess. Best of luck, Paul.”

The storyline never materialized on the court. And though Reed said he might word future comments about opponents differently, he won’t shy away from those high-pressure matchups.

“I’m a competitor,” Reed said postgame. “I feel like I’m one of the better players every time I step on the court. So it comes from the work that I put in every day: weight room, on the court, even off the court studying film. All that work goes into my confidence.”