Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid has shoved a journalist from The Philadelphia Inquirer over a recent critical column that referenced his late brother and son.
Shams was the first one to report to the news, tweeting, “76ers’ Joel Embiid got in an altercation with a columnist following tonight’s game in Philadelphia. Embiid took issue with a recent column that referenced his late brother and son, and Embiid shoved the columnist. No punch.”
“Joel Embiid got into a physical altercation, shoving a columnist in the postgame locker room tonight.” @ShamsCharania on Joel Embiid and the NBA’s investigation into the incident on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/p2z3nJqrEY
— ESPN (@espn) November 3, 2024
It happened after the 76ers were towelled up by the Grizzlies 124-107 Saturday in their own home arena, Wells Fargo Center, where Embiid reportedly attacked a reporter in his team’s locker room, per Keith Pompey.
Oh, boy, people will remember the Sixers season for all the wrong reasons. The team just dropped to 1-4 and Joel Embiid assaulted a reporter in the locker room.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) November 3, 2024
The columnist was Marcus Hayes, who criticized Embiid’s absences from games in a recent article, while referencing the 2023 MVP’s late brother Arthur and four-year-old son (also named Arthur).
“Joel Embiid consistently points to the birth of his son, Arthur, as the major inflection point in his career. He often says that he wants to be great to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother,” Hayes wrote, while making the family connection to Embiid’s struggles to stay healthy the past few seasons.
Pompey, Hayes’ Inquirer colleague, also initially reported that Embiid shoved Hayes but this post has since been deleted.
Charania further reported that the NBA are aware of what’s happened and will subsequently be looking into it.
Shams tweeted, “NBA spokesman tells ESPN: “We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers locker room this evening and are commencing an investigation.””
This comes just one day after Embiid made angry comments to the Philly media and NBA fans alike for questioning his desire to play.
“From what I can tell you…I have broken my face twice, I came back early with the risk of losing vision,” Embiid said. “…When I see people saying, ‘He doesn’t want to play,’ I’ve done way too much for this city putting myself at risk for people to be saying that. I do think it’s bulls—. Like that dude, he’s not here. …I’ve done way too much for this f—— to be treated like this.”
Stay tuned for more on this.
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