The Philadelphia center confronted the reporter after a column referenced Embiid’s son and late brother.
Philadelphia 76ers fans have yet to see Joel Embiid play in a game this season due to the injury management of a knee ailment. However, once Embiid is cleared to return to the action, Sixers fans will still have to wait to see the center, as the NBA announced a
three-game suspension for him on Tuesday.
The penalty stems from an altercation in the 76ers locker room on Saturday after the team fell 124-107 to the Memphis Grizzlies. Embiid struck and shoved Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Marcus Hayes after taking exception to an article that Hayes had written.
In the article, Hayes criticized Embiid’s lack of conditioning and said he disrespects the game with his constant missing of contests. Hayes also referenced Embiid’s late brother, Arthur, who died in a 2014 car crash, as well as Joel Embiid’s son, who is 4 and is named after Arthur.
After pointing out how Embiid says he wants to leave a legacy for his son, which would also honor his brother,
Hayes wrote, “Well, in order to be great at your job, you first have to show up to work. Embiid has been great at just the opposite.”
That set off Embiid, who reportedly directed multiple profanities at Hayes. Per the
Associated Press, Embiid told Hayes, “The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I’m going to do to you and I’m going to have to ... live with the consequences.”
In its decision to suspend Embiid, Joe Dumars, a Hall of Fame player and now the NBA’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, cited mandatory respect between players and the press.
“Mutual respect is paramount to the relationship between players and media in the NBA,” Dumars said. “While we understand Joel was offended by the personal nature of the original version of the reporter’s column, interactions must remain professional on both sides and can never turn physical.”
Since Embiid hasn’t played this season, with no firm timetable for when he is set to debut, his suspension will begin with the first regular-season game in which he is eligible to play. That date is uncertain because the team and player have an injury management plan in place to optimize Embiid for the long haul of both the regular season and a potential postseason run.
The 2022-23 MVP, Embiid looked well on his way to possibly repeating as MVP last season before knee surgery in February sidelined him for two months. He returned at the end of the regular season, played in all six postseason games, then suited up for five of the six games for Team USA at the Summer Olympics.
There’s been no apparent injury or procedure since the Olympics ended in August, so Embiid’s ongoing absence has resulted in confusion from fans and criticism from media members like Hayes.
The seven-time All-Star didn’t play in any preseason games, and the 76ers’ phrase for Embiid’s situation as being “injury management” raised a red flag with the NBA as Embiid’s three-game suspension for shoving Hayes is actually the second infraction resulting from his absence.
The Sixers were fined, as a team, $100,000 in late October for public comments the team made in regard to Embiid’s status for the start of the regular season.
Even though many have been surprised by Embiid’s lack of play thus far this season, he hinted that he wouldn’t be on the court as much during the regular season, in order to save himself for the playoffs. During the
NBA Media Day on Sept. 30, Embiid said, “Basically every single year in my career, I’ve been hurt in the playoffs. So that’s the goal, and it’s all about doing whatever it takes to get there.”
Philadelphia has played 807 regular season games since drafting Embiid third overall in 2014, and he has suited up for 433 of those, or 54 percent.
Without their franchise player, the 76ers have predictably struggled, starting the season 1-5, after the team went 31-8 in games he played last year. His absence has been noticeable on both ends of the court as the Sixers are scoring 5.9 fewer points per game
this season compared with last, while allowing 5.2 more. And Philadelphia certainly wasn’t helped to start the year with its prized offseason addition, nine-time All-Star Paul George, missing the first five games with a knee injury of his own after he suffered a hyperextension in a preseason game.
