Written by David Aldridge, Tony Jones, Sam Amick
Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid shoved a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist in the Sixers' locker room on Saturday night, multiple league officials confirmed. The Athletic. The physical altercation occurred after Embiid and columnist Marcus Hayes got into an altercation following Philadelphia's 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Hayes, a longtime columnist for the Inquirer and formerly the Philadelphia Daily News, recently penned a column in which he believed Embiid personally disrespected him and his family, and said that after Friday's practice. Embiid announced this to reporters.
Embiid said, in part, that he had done “too much for this city to be treated like this.” The column in question was written on Oct. 23 and discusses Embiid's son and his younger brother Arthur, who died in a car accident in 2014 at the age of 13, a tragedy that led Embiid to consider quitting basketball. He has said many times that he has become Embiid's 4-year-old son was named Arthur, after his older brother.
Embiid has yet to play in a game this season, and the season started with a 1-4 start without Embiid and star forward Paul George, including Saturday's loss.
Hayes attended the game on Saturday and went into the team's locker room after the game. Embiid sought him out, but the conversation quickly turned sour.
Team officials said Hayes did not physically react to Embiid's push.
“We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers' locker room tonight and have begun an investigation,” an NBA spokesperson said Saturday.
Embiid's play this season has always been a source of conversation and frustration for the team and the seven-time All-Star, but Embiid has been injured in each postseason in recent years. This is one of the reasons why the team is unable to get out of the slump. 2nd round of the playoffs during his tenure. Embiid and the 76ers have been working on a potential plan for the center to play in the regular season but play fewer games in order to stay healthy for the postseason.
Embiid had surgery on his left knee last February, which caused him to miss most of the second half of the 2023-24 regular season. He returned in the first round of the playoff series against the New York Knicks, but was noticeably limping throughout the series. The Knicks won six games.
However, Embiid appeared healthy for the U.S. team at this summer's Paris Olympics, serving as the starting center. However, during the 76ers' training camp, Embiid was found to have mild swelling in his knee, and he has since been put on hold.
Over the past week, Hayes has been harshly critical of Embiid, writing multiple columns in which he chastises Embiid for his poor conditioning entering the season after competing in the Olympics and criticizes Embiid for his years of absence.
“The level of contempt Embiid has for his organization, his industry, and especially his fans, who pay his full price, is absolutely astonishing,” Hayes wrote in an Oct. 23 column for the Inquirer. . “That's because fans buy tickets, fans watch TV, fans buy products that are advertised on TV. Part of the deal for Embiid is to show up and play basketball. But he doesn't even bother getting in good enough shape to keep this deal.
This is an incredible dereliction of duty. That is completely unacceptable. ”
In an earlier version of the column, Hayes wrote:
“Joel Embiid always points to the birth of his son Arthur as a major turning point in his basketball career. He often points to the birth of his son Arthur as a major turning point in his basketball career. He said he wants to leave a great legacy for the boy he is named after.
That paragraph was excerpted from a later version of the column posted online.
Last Wednesday, Hayes criticized Embiid again after the NBA fined the 76ers $100,000 for the team's “inconsistent” statements regarding Embiid's health. Hayes has offered the team refunds to fans who have purchased tickets to home games this season in good faith, knowing that Embiid will likely miss several games this year to avoid back-to-back games. Ta.
“Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that Embiid will play in every subsequent home game, even if they are not back-to-back games. After all, since being drafted by the Sixers in 2014, he has played in 46 regular-season games. %,” Hayes wrote. “Therefore, although he will miss 10 home games, it is reasonable to assume that none of them will be due to injury. This is approximately 25 per cent of what all full season ticket holders paid. corresponds to
On Friday, after Embiid responded with applause to the criticism, Hayes criticized Embiid again, saying, “It's been too much for this city to be treated like this, so I've gone too far.”
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Hayes acknowledged Embiid's MVP award and leadership of the franchise in Friday's column, saying Embiid “may end up being the best player in franchise history.” But unlike Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Allen Iverson, to name a few, Embiid's teams have never made it past the second round of the playoffs. Embiid has played through injuries and illnesses in the postseason, but he's not alone. The idea here is that if you're in good shape when the playoffs start, it won't be too difficult to play even if an injury occurs. ”
Embiid, 30, is in his 10th season with the Sixers, having been the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft. He missed his first two NBA seasons due to a right foot injury, surgery, and reinjury to his foot. But he began asserting himself in his third season as a pro and hasn't looked back since, becoming the face of the Sixers' controversial rebuilding plan known as “The Process.”
Embiid played in 433 regular season games over eight seasons, averaging 27.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists. However, he has been plagued by lower-body injuries throughout his career, most of which occurred late in the regular season or in the playoff series.
After the Sixers made public comments about their plans to keep Embiid out of back-to-back games this season, and did not play Embiid in a nationally televised game against Milwaukee on October 23, the NBA began an investigation and ultimately Concerns about Embiid were confirmed. his left knee.
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If the league had discovered that Embiid was actually healthy and that the Sixers decided to prioritize the playoffs while regularly resting him during the regular season, the hammer blow to the league would certainly be much lower. It would have been done. However, according to league officials, The Athletic In the eyes of the NBA and the Sixers, Embiid's left knee was extremely unstable, and there were concerns that it would sustain further damage if he played in the regular-season opener.
The league still fined the 76ers $100,000, but it was for the public statement.
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(Photo: Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
