Earlier this week, Joel Embiid vented his frustration at the narrative around his not yet having played this season, saying, “it’s b*******. Like that dude, he’s not here, Marcus, I’ve done way too much for this f****** city to be treated like this.”
The Marcus in question is Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who was at Saturday night’s 76ers loss to the Grizzlies and the two got into an altercation, reports Shams Charania of ESPN, as well as other reporters on site such as Keith Pompey of The Inquirer.
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.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 3, 2024
Pompey confirmed that Embiid shoved Hayes, and the columnist did not respond physically, according to reports.
Embiid said, “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,” according to NBC 10 of Philadelphia.
An NBA spokesman told NBC Sports, “We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers locker room this evening and are commencing an investigation.”
Hayes wrote a column this week criticizing Embiid for his absences over the years, including this season, then doubled down after Embiid spoke out, saying the Sixers “didn’t know he was so unfit for action when he arrived at training camp.” What set Embiid off was in the original column, where Hayes rather clumsily referenced Embiid’s son Arthur and late brother (whom his son is named after), saying Embiid “often says that he wants to be great to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother,” and that involves showing up for work. Embiid understandably took offense to mentioning his family in that manner.
The NBA fined the 76ers $100,000 for “inconsistent” statements about how Joel Embiid’s knee injury was being managed; the team discussed resting Embiid to make sure he was healthy for the playoffs. However, in that same investigation, the league “confirmed that Embiid has been unable to play in the 76ers’ regular season games this season due to a left knee condition.”
Embiid underwent surgery on the meniscus last February, pushed his recovery to return for the playoffs but was clearly slowed (despite averaging 33 and 10), and the 76ers lost in the first round to the Knicks. He was also clearly not 100% during his time with USA Basketball at the Paris Olympics, although he remained with the team and won gold.
The league traditionally comes down hard on players who physically confront media or fans. We’ll see where this investigation leads.
As for the game, the Grizzlies took control in the second half and cruised to a 124-107 win behind 27 points from Jaren Jackson Jr. The 76ers have fallen to 1-4 on the season and are hard to watch without Embiid or Paul George healthy. The 76ers have yet to have their stars together on the court for one game this season.
